Hospital bad debt is on the rise in the U.S., with more than one-third of active hospitals reporting more than $10 million in unrecovered funds. Of the 25 hospitals on our list, eight reported bad debt that was greater than their net patient revenue in fiscal year 2017. The high rates of bad debt could be attributed to many factors, including high percentages of uninsured patients, lack of revenue cycle management, and more.
The average bad debt ratio for the hospitals on our list is over 105 percent, with the median being just under 82 percent. All 25 hospitals reported a combined $2.3 billion in bad debt, with an average of $95 million.
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| Hospital Name | Bad Debt Ratio | Total Bad Debt | Net Patient Revenue | Explore This Dataset | |
| 1. | Dallas Regional Medical Center | 328.20% | $216,310,512 | $65,905,473 | Explore This Profile |
| 2. | Mercy Hospital Berryville | 198.80% | $32,822,566 | $16,507,238 | Explore This Profile |
| 3. | Lehigh Regional Medical Center | 155.60% | $56,050,728 | $36,029,880 | Explore This Profile |
| 4. | Roseland Community Hospital | 144.30% | $56,672,862 | $39,271,227 | Explore This Profile |
| 5. | Riverview Regional Medical Center | 137.10% | $111,529,065 | $81,348,349 | Explore This Profile |
| 6. | First Texas Hospital | 125.10% | $63,520,668 | $50,758,686 | Explore This Profile |
| 7. | Tanner Medical Center - East Alabama | 109.30% | $6,366,740 | $5,825,834 | Explore This Profile |
| 8. | Southeastern KY Medical Center | 103.80% | $8,158,368 | $7,856,693 | Explore This Profile |
| 9. | CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Medical Center - Longview | 93.70% | $222,810,264 | $237,708,377 | Explore This Profile |
| 10. | Ennis Regional Medical Center | 93.10% | $17,510,930 | $18,814,969 | Explore This Profile |
| 11. | John Peter Smith Hospital | 89.80% | $320,604,106 | $356,833,927 | Explore This Profile |
| 12. | Vaughan Regional Medical Center | 86.90% | $48,466,087 | $55,770,081 | Explore This Profile |
| 13. | Crescent Medical Center Lancaster | 81.80% | $26,820,317 | $32,789,738 | Explore This Profile |
| 14. | Knapp Medical Center | 80.50% | $73,263,123 | $90,971,432 | Explore This Profile |
| 15. | Parkland Health and Hospital System | 77.70% | $673,343,598 | $866,868,031 | Explore This Profile |
| 16. | Mission Regional Medical Center | 75.70% | $68,145,741 | $90,024,084 | Explore This Profile |
| 17. | Polk Medical Center | 74.40% | $24,589,709 | $33,057,454 | Explore This Profile |
| 18. | CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital - Beeville | 74.00% | $25,013,876 | $33,785,809 | Explore This Profile |
| 19. | University Medical Center of El Paso | 73.50% | $141,959,839 | $193,253,888 | Explore This Profile |
| 20. | Stringfellow Memorial Hospital | 72.30% | $30,162,540 | $41,709,748 | Explore This Profile |
| 21. | Sweeny Community Hospital | 72.00% | $5,937,108 | $8,243,244 | Explore This Profile |
| 22. | Drumright Regional Hospital | 71.90% | $5,297,195 | $7,367,221 | Explore This Profile |
| 23. | Cape Fear Valley Hoke Hospital | 70.90% | $24,721,985 | $34,845,669 | Explore This Profile |
| 24. | CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Kleberg | 69.20% | $28,505,151 | $41,178,649 | Explore This Profile |
| 25. | Memorial Hospital Pembroke | 68.00% | $96,452,748 | $141,814,842 | Explore This Profile |
Fig 1. Data from Definitive Healthcare. All-cause hospital wide readmission rate information from CMS Quality Metrics Update in February 2019.