Hospitals Industry Profile

Companies in this industry provide medical, diagnostic, and treatment services to people on an inpatient and an outpatient basis at specialized medical, surgery, emergency, and other health care facilities. Major companies include HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) and Tenet Healthcare (both based in the US), Ramsay Health Care (UK), Apollo Hospitals (India), and Générale de Santé (France).

About 17,000 hospitals serve people around the world. Countries with the most hospital beds per 1,000 people include Japan, South Korea, and Germany, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The US hospital industry includes about 3,600 organizations that operate about 6,500 hospitals with combined annual revenue of about $860 billion. High growth is forecast for the industry over the next two years. Key growth drivers include the aging US population and the expansion of coverage to previously uninsured patients by federal health care laws.

This industry doesn't include residential care facilities, outpatient care centers, or doctors' offices.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for hospital services is driven by demographics, illness and injury rates, and advances in medical care and technology. The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient operations, since many hospitals offer similar services, and customer perception, since in many cities hospitals compete for patients.

Hospitals also compete for physicians, and seek to attract doctors with state-of-the-art equipment and an attractive work environment. Large companies have advantages in buying supplies, sharing ...