From Wall Street to main street : the financial-operational performance link in hospitals across geographies

Lee, Chulho Christopher (author), Luo, Lan (author), Brown, Taylor K. (author), Lim, Hyoun Sook (author), Chen, Ying (author)

This study examines the relationship between hospital financial performance and operational efficiency. Using data from the American Hospital Association (AHA), we find that profitability, debt coverage, and working capital efficiency are positively associated with hospital efficiency, while liquidity and capital structure exhibit a negative correlation. Fixed-asset efficiency, however, shows no significant impact on hospital operational efficiency. Furthermore, we find that the operational efficiency of urban hospitals is, in general, more sensitive to financial performance than that of rural hospitals. These findings provide practical insights for healthcare administrators and policymakers aiming to enhance hospital operational efficiency and promote equitable care delivery.

• Language: English
• Keywords: hospitals, management, business efficiency, hospital operational efficiency, hospital financial performance, hospital location, data envelopment analysis (DEA)
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.06.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 108-126
• Numbering: Vol. 28, iss. 2, article no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-183253
• UDC: 005.3
• ISSN on article: 2335-4216
• DOI: 10.15458/2335-4216.1371
• COBISS.SI-ID: 280278531
• Publication date in RUL: 09.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Economic and business review
• Publisher: Ekonomska fakulteta
• ISSN: 2335-4216
• COBISS.SI-ID: 268649216

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: bolnišnice, management, uspešnost poslovanja