Per-hospital operating margin vs the national average, derived from CMS HCRIS cost report data. Identifies financially distressed hospitals and quantifies the margin gap — free, with cryptographic provenance.
Red bars indicate hospitals below the −5% distress threshold.
Operating margin is computed from CMS HCRIS form 2552-10 headline fields: (Net Patient Revenue − Total Operating Expense) / Net Patient Revenue × 100. Hospitals with operating margin below −5% are flagged as financially distressed per the hospital-margin/v1 methodology.
Fonteum does not independently rate or rank hospitals. This index reflects CMS-published self-reported financial data.
@misc{fonteum_hospital_margin_2024,
title = {Hospital Margin Gap Analysis (2024)},
author = {{Fonteum}},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {\url{https://fonteum.com/research/hospital-margin-gap}},
note = {Accessed 2026-05-26. Methodology: hospital-margin/v1. Data: U.S. Centers for Medicare \& Medicaid Services HCRIS (form CMS-2552-10)},
}Fonteum. (2024). Hospital Margin Gap Analysis (2024). Fonteum. https://fonteum.com/research/hospital-margin-gap
Fonteum. "Hospital Margin Gap Analysis (2024)." Fonteum, 2024. https://fonteum.com/research/hospital-margin-gap.
Data source: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital Cost Reporting Information System (HCRIS), form CMS-2552-10. Public domain per 17 U.S.C. § 105.
Definitive Healthcare charges $30,000/year for their Hospital Performance Manager, which leads with hospital financial margins. This study publishes the same underlying data — CMS HCRIS — free, with full methodology and cryptographic attestation. Every number is traceable to a CMS cost report filing.