Hospitals in Some States Under Report Medicaid Discharge Counts in Cost Report Data

The discrepancies between HCRIS and TAF data indicate that HCRIS may not reliably capture hospital discharge volumes for Medicaid patients, particularly those funded by managed care. These inconsistencies can misinform policy decisions and evaluations of hospital performance. Policymakers and researchers should exercise caution when using HCRIS data for Medicaid discharge counts and consider supplementing it with TAF or other sources.