Within any healthcare or hospital service area, there is a certain level of provision of hospital beds.
The fewer the beds, the more upside there is for an individual system that increases its number of beds.
Ceteris paribus, more beds implies more market competition. Nevertheless, at any level of provision, the degree of concentration of beds across health provider systems could be high or low.
Depending on the underprovision or overprovision of beds, systems will need different growth strategy advice.
We can advise a hospital or health system on either revenue or expenses. On the revenue side, we start by looking at the maps. Can this system grow within its territory? How do its rates compare with its competitors, and what is its relative payer mix?
If there are few opportunities on the revenue side, then we look at expenses. Look at costs -- develop and review performance against benchmarks, with and without capital costs included. Look at the age of plant (that is, the accumulated depreciation divided by depreciation expense).