CHICAGO - March 9, 2023 - Syntellis Performance Solutions, the leading provider of enterprise performance management software, data, and intelligence solutions, today released its monthly Syntellis Performance Trends-Healthcare report which reveals ongoing high expenses for the nation’s hospitals — including rapidly rising emergency department labor costs — that show no signs of abating in 2023.
Emergency department (ED) labor costs are on the rise, climbing 50% over the past three years and reaching $186 per visit in January, according to the report which draws data from more than 1,300 hospitals and 135,000 physicians. This trend provides just one example of the long-term effects of inflation, labor shortages, and other economic challenges that continue to strain U.S. healthcare providers in 2023 following a very difficult year in 2022.
“Our data from the first month of 2023 indicates this will be another challenging year for the healthcare industry,” said Steve Wasson, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Data and Intelligence Solutions at Syntellis. “High labor costs are the new normal for the nation’s hospitals, as illustrated by escalating labor expenses in emergency departments nationwide. Ongoing labor shortages have only exacerbated long-running staffing issues in EDs, driving up hourly rates for nurses and other ED labor costs.”
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The median national ED labor expense per visit rose in January 2023, up 49.9% compared to January 2020, before the pandemic. By geographic region, hospitals in 13 states defined as the Western region had both the highest median ED labor expense per visit compared to other regions at $260 in January and the greatest regional increase from January 2020 at 52.4%. Over the past four years, the median labor expense per ED visit for hospitals nationwide ranged from a low of $117 in May 2019 to a high of $230 during the Omicron surge in February 2022.
Hourly wages paid to registered nurses (RNs) represent a significant share of overall ED labor costs. Median ED hourly rates for RNs nationwide — including both employed and contract nurses — rose to $42.24 in January 2023, up 19% from January 2020. EDs in the West had the highest median RN hourly rate at $45.84 in January.
High Overall Hospital Expenses Persist
Looking at overall expenses, hospitals and health systems began the year with a 2% year-over-year increase in total expense and a 4.8% year-over-year jump in total non-labor expense, driven in part by sizable inflation over the past 12 months. Total labor expense rose just 0.6% in January compared to January 2022, when labor expenses peaked due to staffing shortages and a spike in contract labor costs amid the Omicron surge.
