Healthcare Insights

Top 25 hospitals by medical supply costs

Supply chain costs account for a large portion of hospital expenses, averaging about 14% of total hospital operating expenses. These costs include not only necessary medical and surgical supplies, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and personal protective equipment (PPE), but also purchased services like food preparation or laundry and linens.

Supply costs are impacted by external factors like rising pharmaceutical prices, as well as internal expenses like physician preference items (PPIs). Though PPI spending and medical supply expenses are more discretionary than other hospital expenses, supply chain spending has been on an upward trend since at least 2014. According to data from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product, total supply expenses at U.S. hospitals increase by about 6% each year.

Using data from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product, below is a list of the top 25 U.S. hospitals by medical and surgical supply costs. Data is sourced from the Medicare Cost Report and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database.

    Top U.S. hospitals by total medical and surgical supply costs

    RankDefinitive IDHospital nameLocationTotal medical/surgical supply costsExplore dataset
    12096University HospitalAnn Arbor, MI$1,230,399,082 Explore
    2541974NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical CenterNew York, NY$930,837,721 Explore
    33015UNC Medical CenterChapel Hill, NC$898,149,606 Explore
    4274110UK Albert B Chandler Hospital (AKA Kentucky Hospital)Lexington, KY$896,905,332 Explore
    53120Cleveland Clinic Main CampusCleveland, OH$873,920,366 Explore
    61365IU Health Methodist HospitalIndianapolis, IN$831,522,736 Explore
    7550UC San Diego Medical CenterSan Diego, CA$830,250,464 Explore
    83623Medical University of South Carolina Medical CenterCharleston, SC$828,769,081 Explore
    9851Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer CenterMiami, FL$759,644,818 Explore
    101678Norton HospitalLouisville, KY$722,493,272 Explore
    113742Vanderbilt University Medical CenterNashville, TN$715,863,952 Explore
    123421OHSU Hospital - PortlandPortland, OR$696,531,212 Explore
    135538UH Rainbow Babies & Childrens HospitalCleveland, OH$686,482,427 Explore
    143124University Hospitals Cleveland Medical CenterCleveland, OH$686,470,654 Explore
    151631The University of Kansas HospitalKansas City, KS$655,913,639 Explore
    164310University HospitalCharlottesville, VA$652,284,696 Explore
    17560UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus HeightsSan Francisco, CA$632,289,463 Explore
    182976Wake Forest Baptist Medical CenterWinston Salem, NC$599,444,557 Explore
    192191Mayo Clinic Hospital - Saint Marys CampusRochester, MN$585,197,664 Explore
    202818Strong Memorial HospitalRochester, NY$581,918,912 Explore
    212837Mount Sinai Medical CenterNew York, NY$569,406,046 Explore
    222035Spectrum Health Butterworth HospitalGrand Rapids, MI$561,899,827 Explore
    23818Moffitt Cancer Center Magnolia CampusTampa, FL$560,442,350 Explore
    241914The Johns Hopkins HospitalBaltimore, MD$548,500,797 Explore
    253138The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research InstituteColumbus, OH$541,314,548 Explore

    Fig. 1 Data is from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Data is sourced from the April 2023 Medicare Cost Report release. Accessed April 2023.

    Which hospitals have the highest total medical supply costs?

    University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan has the highest hospital medical supply costs among U.S. hospitals at more than $1.2 billion. It is the top hospital in the state of Michigan based on net patient revenue and one of the largest academic medical centers in the nation.

    NewYork/Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center – a top hospital in New York and another leading academic medical center – is second on the list with nearly $931 million in hospital medical supply costs.

    The remaining hospitals on the list are among the top U.S. hospitals by net patient revenue and include many academic medical centers and cancer centers. Four hospitals on the list are located in Ohio and three are in New York.

    How much does a hospital spend on supplies?

    Based on data from more than 4,100 hospitals in HospitalView, the average total supply expense is $38 million per hospital. On average, hospital supply expenses increased by more than 6% from 2017 to 2021.

    In comparison, the average total medical and surgical supply expense for the 25 hospitals on the list is $723 million, or about 27% of total operating expenses.

    What is included in total hospital supply costs?

    Total hospital supply costs include:

    It also includes overhead costs such as:

    Learn more

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