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by metaphor 102 days ago
Hmm...sniff test sampling:

- HCA[1]: FY25 profit margin = 9.0%

- UHS[2]: FY25 profit margin = 8.6%

- THC[3]: FY25 profit margin = 6.6%

Yeah, a bit of disaggregation is likely needed here, but in these companies, labor expense as a percentage of revenue is on a declining YoY trend while revenue continues to grow.

What's the prevailing ballpark ratio of doctors to all other hospital staff again? And what details are buried in that ever so opaque and increasing "other operating expenses" line item?

[1] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/860730/0001193125260...

[2] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/352915/0001193125260...

[3] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70318/00000703182600...

1 comments

Here’s industry wide stats for hospitals: https://www.chartis.com/insights/hospital-margins-trend-high.... Median hospital operating margin is 1.5% in 2024. Even among the top 50 systems, the median is 2.3%. https://hospitalogy.com/articles/2025-05-29/top-50-health-sy...
The median US hospital is also a nonprofit; indeed, more than half are. I fail to see how focusing on this opaque median measure tells us anything meaningful.

Care to speculate on the trends I pointed out? I simply don't see how compensation for doctors is the problem.