FACTBOX: What differentiates the most profitable U.S. hospitals

(Reuters) - There is a wide gap between the most profitable U.S. hospitals and the least profitable ones, which run in the red, according to a Thomson Reuters study.

What separates them is productivity -- the best performers financially treat and discharge patients more quickly, allowing staff to spend less time on each patient. That is critical for hospitals, which are often paid by the number of patients they treat, not by the number of days they hold them for.

With much of the current debate about how to reform the nation's healthcare system focused on cost, improving efficiency will be a key focus for hospital administrators in the coming years.

Below are additional facts about what distinguishes the nation's most and least profitable hospitals, based on an analysis of about 465 U.S. hospitals:

* The average U.S. hospital reported an operating profit margin of 3.7 percent, with the most profitable seeing an 11.9 percent operating return and the least recording a 3.9 percent operating loss.

* Not surprisingly, the most profitable hospitals charge more -- on average $946 more per patient discharged. Higher-priced care more than offsets lower ancillary revenues from services such as the cafeteria and parking, which trail those of the least profitable hospitals by $193 per patient on average.

* Profitable hospitals do not pinch their pennies when it comes to supplies and drugs. On average, they spend $118 more per patient on those items than the least profitable.

* The most profitable hospitals treat and release their patients quickly, on average 8 percent faster than their least profitable counterparts.

* That allows their staff to work nine fewer hours per patient admitted -- an advantage that frees them up to treat more people.

Source: Thomson Reuters research

(Reporting by Scott Malone, editing by Claudia Parsons)