From 2011 to 2012, hospitals within Moody's Investors Service's "Baa" credit rating category generally saw lower revenue and profitability.

Moody's Investors Service has 10 levels of investment-grade long-term ratings, ranging from a high of "Aaa" down to "Baa3." Many small hospitals and health systems sit within the three subcategories of "Baa" ratings: "Baa1," "Baa2" and "Baa3." In August , Moody's issued its annual medians report for nonprofit hospitals, and overall profitability metrics were down.

According to Moody's medians, hospitals at the tail-end of investment grade posted lower average revenue, operating income, total profit and operating margin in last year compared with 2011. These hospitals are typically smaller than higher-rated credits, and they were more vulnerable to downward changes due to increased operating expenses and lagging volumes.

Here are 45 statistics on various hospital metrics from Moody's, sorted by hospital rating. Note : All data are medians from 2012 and are for only the three subcategories of "Baa" ratings. Moody's data reflects freestanding hospitals as well as single-state and multistate health systems in its portfolio. To compare with medians of "Baa"-rated hospitals from 2011, click here .

Hospitals rated "Baa1" (sample size: 45)
Maintained beds: 411
Admissions: 24,049
Observation stays: 4,775
Outpatient surgeries: 8,957
Net patient revenue: $446.4 million
Total operating revenue: $454.4 million
Operating income: $8.3 million
Total profit (including investments): $21.1 million
Net fixed assets: $248.1 million
Operating margin: 1.2 percent
Operating cash flow margin: 7.8 percent
Days cash on hand: 149
Days in accounts receivable: 48.7
Debt-to-capitalization: 47.4 percent
Average age of plant: 11.7 years

Hospitals rated "Baa2" (sample size: 41)
Maintained beds: 254
Admissions: 13,900
Observation stays: 3,907
Outpatient surgeries: 6,177
Net patient revenue: $252 million
Total operating revenue: $272.4 million
Operating income: $3 million
Total profit (including investments): $8.7 million
Net fixed assets: $154 million
Operating margin: 1.2 percent
Operating cash flow margin: 8.8 percent
Days cash on hand: 139.5
Days in accounts receivable: 47.7
Debt-to-capitalization: 49.3 percent
Average age of plant: 11.4 years

Hospitals rated "Baa3" (sample size: 22)
Maintained beds: 197
Admissions: 10,918
Observation stays: 2,838
Outpatient surgeries: 5,236
Net patient revenue: $206.7 million
Total operating revenue: $247.1 million
Operating income: $1.2 million
Total profit (including investments): $5.5million
Net fixed assets: $136.8 million
Operating margin: 1.2 percent
Operating cash flow margin: 7.9 percent
Days cash on hand: 132.9
Days in accounts receivable: 46.2
Debt-to-capitalization: 47.6 percent
Average age of plant: 9.8 years

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