Top 10 short-term acute care hospitals

Patients are no longer relying solely on hospitals to receive preventative care and treatment. As the COVID-19 pandemic changed how patients interact with their doctors, demand has shifted in new directions. Now, patients are seeking new, affordable and convenient ways to receive the care they need. 

While this demand encouraged the growth of retail clinics, freestanding imaging centers and outpatient surgery centers, industry experts have become increasingly concerned. Many speculate about the fragmentation of care across the ecosystem and the increasing costs of services.  

With the popularization of outpatient care centers, short-term care facilities are being used less and less. Now, these facilities must realign their strategies to prevent patient leakage and reduce revenue loss. Outpatient centers cannot always provide the kind of integrated, connected care a hospital can, especially when it comes to inpatient care.  

Below, we explore the top short-term acute care (STAC) hospitals by net patient revenue, staffed beds and length of stay. 

Top 5 short-term acute care hospitals by net patient revenue 

Fig 1. Data from Definitive Healthcare’s hospital & IDN platform. Data accurate as of February 2022.  

STAC hospitals are by far the most prolific hospital type in the United States, making up just under half of all U.S. hospitals. However, STAC facilities are vastly outnumbered by urgent care clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. Where there are roughly 3,900 active STAC hospitals, there are more than 9,900 urgent care clinics and 9,400 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in the U.S. 

Currently, two of the top five STAC hospitals with the most net patient revenue are based in New York. The others that fill this list are Ohio, Tennessee and California. This is likely due to high patient volumes that come with locations in or near major metropolitan areas. 

Top 5 short-term acute care hospitals by staffed beds

Fig 2. Data from Definitive Healthcare’s hospital & IDN platform. Data accurate as of February 2022.  

From the two tables above, we can see a greater number of staffed beds does not necessarily correlate with higher net patient revenue, as none of the five STAC hospitals with the most staffed beds appear on the list of facilities with the highest net patient revenue.  

Top 5 short-term acute care hospitals by the length of stay 

Fig 3. Data from Definitive Healthcare’s hospital & IDN platform. Length of stay is measured in days. Data accurate as of February 2022.  

One challenge facing short-term acute care hospitals is patient length of stay. Longer lengths of stay have been linked to higher readmission rates, particularly for cardiovascular issues. Patients are also more likely to contract hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) or other hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) the longer their hospital stay. 

For facilities like Florida State Hospital, with an average stay length of 87 weeks, patients are more likely to develop HACs during their stay. High rates of HACs hurt a hospital’s net revenue and likely increase the hospital’s risk of receiving penalties from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  

Longer lengths of stay also decrease patient turnover, as there are fewer unoccupied beds, reducing the number of patients a hospital can hold for treatment. This could lead to patient transfers to other facilities, resulting in greater revenue loss. 

What are acute care hospitals? 

When most people picture a hospital, they think of a short-term acute care hospital. For outpatient visits or short inpatient visits not requiring rehabilitation, that is where most patients seek care first.  

STAC hospitals typically treat patients who are recovering from surgery or need treatment for a severe injury or illness or have an urgent medical condition. 

Short-term versus long-term acute care hospitals 

The short-term acute care model differs from long-term acute care hospitals in several ways. Long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals operate in a similar manner to short-term but focus on patients staying more than 25 days. 

Long-term acute care hospitals generally offer comprehensive rehabilitation, respiratory therapy, treatment for head trauma and pain management services in addition to short-term services.  

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