Non-Profit Transparency

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Transparancy Important for Non-Profit Hospitals

Private non-profit institutions such as churches and hospitals have few financial and operations disclosure requirements. Churches tend to be more open because members expect it or go elsewhere.

The community wants to know about the operations and finances of their private non-profit hospital but for some reason boards are reluctant. Hospitals such as Healthcare Partners, Mayo Foundation, and New York Presbyterian post their audited financial statements on line and have experienced positive results.

An increasing number of hospitals post quarterly financial statements on line including balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, cash on hand, debt service, and operating information such as patient volume, bed count, payer mix, and other data.

The federal government does require a detailed yearly report on Form 990 from private non-profit hospital concerning operations and finances. It is clearly marked: “Open to Public Inspection”. (Go to http://www2.guidestar.org/ to view the 990 of any private non-profit hospital). Many hospitals give these out on request and in some states distribution is legally required.

The problem with Form 990 is the information is 12 to 18 months old before it becomes available to the public. To be considered truly transparent a health system’s information should be timely, easily accessible and content-rich.

In our country where health care expenses are rising twice the cost of living and take up nearly one fifth of the GNP, the public and the hospital will benefit from greater transparancy.