US News & World Report just released their list of “best hospitals” for 2025-26, which is based primarily on patient outcomes for complex specialty care and common procedures. The Lown Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility takes a different approach to hospital ranking, evaluating hospitals on metrics of equity and value as well as outcomes. Here's how the 2025 US News best hospitals perform on the Lown Index. More
See which critical access hospitals made our list of most socially responsible hospitals…and which ones are at risk of shutting down services or closure. More
Hospitals have a lot of leeway to decide who is eligible for financial assistance. In some cases, hospitals don't allow any elective care to be eligible. What impact could that have on health or medical debt? More
125 “socially responsible” hospitals earn Honor Roll status for outcomes, value, and equity BOSTON—More than 100 U.S. hospitals achieved top performance across measures of equity, value, and outcomes, according to the 2025 Lown Hospitals Index. Despite workforce shortages, rising costs, looming Medicaid cuts, and other challenges, Lown Institute analysts say this year’s Honor Roll demonstrates […] More
Register now for the webinar "America's Most Socially Responsible Hospitals" on June 25, 2025. More
Analysis of 2,500 charity care policies finds patients with identical income and medical needs could receive free care at one hospital, yet face collections or lawsuits at another. More
Hospitals in 18 states own a total of $170 billion in assessed real property value and benefit from a total of $4.3 billion in real estate tax exemptions. However, this benefit is not spread out equally among states. More
These 20 hospitals avoided nearly $1 billion in property taxes. More
What types of initiatives are hospitals investing in to improve access to care and community health? We dug into the tax forms for some of the largest fair share surplus hospitals to find out. More
A recent investigation of the Mayo Clinic by the state AG found that the hospital put up barriers to financial assistance. More
A new study in JAMA Health Forum finds that certain communities receive much less community benefit spending from hospitals than others. More
A wish list of program cuts being circulated by House Republicans includes proposals that target the healthcare system. Here are some of the proposed cuts and the potential repercussions for hospitals. More
Early 2025 updates on private equity and hospitals, including new state legislation and another system bankruptcy. More
Amid increased scrutiny on hospital billing and collections practices, one might expect hospitals to make their financial assistance policies more generous. However, these changes are not always for the better, a new study finds. More
Register now for the 2024 Shkreli Awards, hosted on January 7, 2025 at 1pm More
Safety net hospitals across the country are facing downgraded services and closures. Meanwhile, more profitable hospitals within the same systems are expanding and growing bigger than ever. Where is this pattern showing up, and how does it impact patients? More
Register now for the webinar "Unnecessary Back Surgery: Older Americans put at risk while Billions in Medicare funds wasted" on November 14, 2024. More
Hospitals in the U.S. are continuing to land in hot water for excessive spending on CEO pay and other extravagances at the same time as they face financial challenges and lay off hundreds. More
340B is more than a big pile of money. The program is a band-aid covering up huge problems with our health system that can no longer be ignored. The 340B drug discount program is a hugely important policy issue for hospitals and drug companies, but the most of the rest of us have never heard of it or barely understand it. Why is pharma and the hospital industry getting so worked up about 340B, and how does any of this matter? Here’s what you need to know about a growing policy battle… More
Here's how seven health care systems currently or recently owned by private equity firms performed on outcomes, value, and equity on the Lown Index... More