Question: When my organization pays for services for an individual patient, do I count the expense under Category E. Cash and In-kind or under A3. Health Care Support Services?

Recommendation: We recommend that when payment is made to another organization for medical services on behalf of an individual patient this expense can be reported Category A3, Health Care Support Services as long as your primary purpose in paying for the services is to provide access to the appropriate level of care for persons who meet your documented eligibility requirements, which include medical necessity and financial need. If, however, the primary purpose is to shorten the patient's length of stay in order to save money for the hospital, we recommend that you do not report the expense as community benefit.

Schedule H instructions note, "Don't report as cash or in-kind contributions any payments that the organization makes in exchange for a service, facility, or product, or that the organization makes primarily to obtain an economic or physical benefit." We recommend that you document this as a program, the intentions of the program and include all the eligibility criteria, including medical necessity and established financial need.

(January 2011; Updated December 2024)