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<p>Regional rehabilitation, psychiatric and long-term care facilities are generally posting operating margins &#8212; income compared to spending &#8212; below the state average, according to a new report.</p><p>For the region&#8217;s two rehabilitation facilities, the margins are well below the average.</p><p>The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council released a financial analysis of such facilities statewide this week, looking at hospital income and expenditures, and at both the operating margin and total margin for each.</p><p>Total margin may be different if a facility gets income from sources other than patient services, such as gains from investments or contributions. In the case of area hospitals, there was little if any difference.</p><p>The council sorts facilities into nine regions, with region six covering the nine counties in the northeast corner of the state, including Luzerne and Lackawanna. The report lists two rehabilitation facilities, one psychiatric facility and one long-term acute care site in region six.</p><p>According to data in the report, rehabilitation hospitals statewide in 2016 averaged $36 million in &#8220;Net Patient Revenue&#8221; and $34 million in &#8220;Total Operating Expenses,&#8221; for an average operating margin of 11.1 percent.</p><p>By comparison, Allied Services had an operating margin of 2.3 percent, and John Heinz Rehab had a negative margin of minus 3.1 percent.</p><p>The differences were narrower for psychiatric and long-term care hospitals in the region, though the area facilities were still below the state average.</p><p>Statewide, psychiatric hospitals posted a 7.9 percent operating margin; First Wyoming Valley posted a margin just shy of 6 percent.</p><p>The state average for long-term acute care hospitals was a 5.5 percent operating margin; Post Acute Medical Specialty Hospital, housed on the seventh floor of Wilkes-Barre General, had a margin of 3.7 percent</p><p>In all cases, local facilities are getting a higher percentage of income from Medicare than the state average. Statewide, the Medicare share of Net Patient Revenue for Rehabilitation Hospitals was 57.7 percent. At Allied Services, it was 71.6 percent. At John Heinz, it was 68.4 percent.</p><p>The statewide Medicare share at psychiatric hospitals was 17.5 percent; at First Wyoming Valley it was 22.1 percent. The state average at long-term acute care facilities was 71.5 percent compared to 80.4 percent at PAM Specialty.</p><p>Overall, the report noted, operating margins declined statewide from 2015: Psychiatric hospital margins dropped from 8.8 percent to 7.9 percent; long-term care margins dropped from 8.1 percent to 5.5 percent; and rehab margins dropped from 12.9 percent to 11.1 percent.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Report: Regional rehab, long-term and psych facilities running low margins