Which U.S. hospitals have the most Medicare discharges?

Which hospitals had the most discharges of Medicare patients?

AdventHealth Orlando in Orlando, Florida, tops our list with 28,492 Medicare discharges, or about 8.79% of total discharges across the top 20 hospitals.

In second place is Tisch Hospital in New York City, with 23,937 Medicare discharges.

New York – Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, also in New York City, takes a close third with 22,932 hospital discharges of Medicare patients.

In total, the hospitals on our list had 324,075 Medicare discharges. All U.S. hospitals discharged more than 7.79 million Medicare patients in 2021, the period covered by the latest Medicare Cost Report.

What can Medicare discharges reveal about a hospital?

Self-paying patients and private insurance companies tend to compensate hospitals at a higher rate than government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. These programs can pay facilities less than the real cost of treatment, encouraging many hospitals to seek a blended payor mix of primarily privately insured and self-paying patients. On average, around a third of patients pay with Medicare or Medicaid.

Facilities with a higher proportion of Medicare discharges typically serve older patients and those with certain disabilities designated by the Social Security Administration. Because of the lower reimbursement rates associated with government programs, hospitals with greater Medicare discharge volumes may face narrower margins and higher operating costs than those that rely on private/self-pay patients.

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