Hospitals cannot continue to slash their way to survival without sacrificing quality and patient services. Traditional cost reduction often leads to a “downward spiral” of additional market share erosion and revenue loss, resulting in the apparent need for more cost reduction. A new survival strategy must be employed.
The United Health Fund recently reported that 13 of 35 non-profit, acute care hospitals in New York City are in such financial distress that their long-term viability is in doubt — a warning for all health care institutions struggling to survive.