Giving Compass' Take:

• New trend alert! Healthcare Dive discusses the rise of micro-hospitals, facilities that have 10 beds (or fewer) and are built for only short-term stays.

• These are attracting investments, since they are relatively low cost and fit a need to provide emergency care without burdening the traditional system. Could nonprofits in the space play a role? How can these hospitals help marginalized communities with little healthcare access?

• Here's why healthcare focus in general needs to be on patients, not diseases.

Expanding a health system’s footprint is about, well, getting bigger.

However, a mounting number of systems are seeing savings in shrinking hospitals instead.

Micro-hospitals are cropping up as a lower-cost alternative to larger acute care facilities with numerous service lines. Micro-hospitals are often between 15,000 and 50,000 square feet with 10 beds or fewer for short-term stays. They include front-end components, including emergency rooms, primary care and specialists. While a traditional acute care hospital looks to offer as many service lines as possible, a micro-hospital limits offerings and hospital stays while sending serious acute care cases to local hospital partners.

Health systems interested in micro-hospitals are often looking to capture patient flow without making significant investments in hospital infrastructure, Zach Hafner, partner at Optum Advisory Services, told Healthcare Dive.

These facilities offer fewer capital costs. They also meet emergency and limited inpatient need, while feeding back more serious acute care patients to a main hospital.

“Micro-hospitals fall into the realm of big investments, but not game-changer investments, so [health systems] are willing to make those bets,” Hafner said.

Read the full article about the pros and cons of micro-hospitals by Les Masterson at Healthcare Dive.