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A Medical Career-Choice After 2012: Intern/ Resident/Fellow/Attending. The Semmelweis Society.

Are Hospitals ACO's?

Some administrators' salaries are so high they can only be described as corporate, in which case there are enough administrators. One key question for corporate safety is: Are there enough technicians, nurses, and clerks? We are all patients: When you push the button to ask for help, what happens? Is the ER clean? The food? Etc.

Nearly all hospitals are in part supported with taxes: Public Accountability means accountability as a requirement for the 501(c)(3) tax-exemption. See GuideStar.org. See how your money is spent at the hospitals near you. Set up a web site to compare 3 hospitals near you. Money talks.

U.S. Hospital Admninistrative Salaries

Methods. We obtained detailed data on hospital expenses for fiscal year 1990 from reports submitted to Medicare by 6400 hospitals. We calculated each hospital's administrative costs by summing expenses in the following Medicare cost-accounting categories: administrative and general, nursing administration, central services and supply (excluding the purchase cost of supplies), medical records and library, utilization review, and the salary costs of the employee benefits department. We classified costs in most other categories as clinical. Some small categories of expenses (e.g., gift shop) were excluded from both our clinical and administrative groupings, and for others (e.g., plant operations), a proportional share was allocated between the two groupings. Results. Nationwide, administration accounted for an average of 24.8 percent of each hospital's spending in fiscal 1990. Average hospital administrative costs ranged from 20.5 percent in Minnesota to 30.6 percent in Hawaii. Administrative salaries accounted for 22.4 percent of the average hospital's salary costs. Administrative costs were similar in states with high and low rates of enrollment in health maintenance organizations (HMOs).

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