페디아트릭스 메디컬 그룹(MD) 2026년 3분기 실적 발표 콘퍼런스 콜: EBITDA 전망치 범위 축소

핵심 요약

• 페디아트릭스 메디컬 그룹은 2026년 3분기 조정 EBITDA가 약 8,500만 달러를 기록했다고 발표했으며, 연간 조정 EBITDA 전망치를 2억 9,000만~3억 달러로 축소 조정했습니다.
• 연결 매출은 전년 동기 대비 2% 미만 증가했습니다. 동일 사업단위 매출은 0.6% 증가했으며, 환자 수와 단가가 각각 0.3%씩 기여했습니다.
• 동일 사업단위 단가는 우호적인 지불자 구성, 높은 병원 행정 수수료, 환자 중증도 증가의 수혜를 입었습니다. 이러한 증가분은 100bp를 약간 상회하는 수익 창출 주기 관리(RCM) 기저효과 역풍으로 일부 상쇄되었습니다.
• 영업활동 현금흐름은 전년 동기의 1억 3,800만 달러에서 1억 1,800만 달러로 감소했습니다. 분기 말 현금 보유액은 총 3억 1,200만 달러, 순부채는 2억 6,600만 달러를 약간 상회했으며 레버리지 비율은 1배 미만이었습니다.
• 페디아트릭스는 해당 분기 동안 300만 주 이상의 자사주를 매입했습니다. 2025년 8월 이후 평균 23달러에 1,000만 주를 매입하여 발행 주식 수를 7,800만 주로 줄였습니다.
• 경영진은 오바마케어(ACA) 보조금 만료에 따른 명확한 부정적 영향은 관찰되지 않았다고 밝혔습니다. 또한 통상 사업의 5% 미만이 네트워크 외 진료여서 잠재적인 IDR(독립분쟁해결) 규정 변경에 대한 노출이 제한적일 것으로 예상합니다.

주요 재무 데이터

사업 및 영업 실적

동일 사업단위 환자 진료량은 0.3% 증가했습니다. 모체태아의학(MFM) 서비스 성장은 주로 신생아실 활동을 포함한 기타 신생아학 서비스의 감소로 일부 상쇄되었습니다. 신생아 중환자실(NICU) 재원 일수는 전년 동기 대비 안정적인 수준을 유지했습니다.

지불자 구성은 2025년 3분기 대비 70bp 이상 개선되었으며, 2026년 2분기 대비 안정적인 수준을 유지했습니다. 경영진은 지불자 구성이 단가 상승 기여도의 약 40%, 병원 행정 수수료가 약 25%, 중증도가 약 15%를 차지하는 것으로 추정했습니다.

회사는 이전 기간의 수금 활동 개선으로 인해 3분기 단가에 100bp를 약간 상회하는 비교 기준 역풍이 발생했다고 밝혔습니다. 경영진은 추가적인 자동화를 지속적으로 추진하는 한편, 수익 창출 주기 관리(RCM) 실적은 안정적이라고 평가했습니다.

진료소 단위의 급여, 임금 및 복리후생비는 전년 동기 대비 증가했으며, 이는 복리후생비 감소로 일부 상쇄되었으나 급여 비용이 증가한 점을 반영합니다. 급여 상승률은 약 3% 수준을 유지했으며, 경영진은 최근 몇 년간 임상 인력의 급여 상승률을 약 3%~3.5%로 설명했습니다.

일반관리비는 주로 재무 실적 개선으로 성과급 보상이 늘어나면서 증가했습니다. 손익계산서에서 차감 종료된 일부 SaaS 비용을 포함한 기술 비용 감소가 이를 일부 상쇄했습니다.

페디아트릭스는 원격 의료 서비스를 지속적으로 확대하고 특정 산부인과 입원전담의 기회를 검토하고 있습니다. 또한 여성 및 아동 의료 서비스에 중점을 두고 기존 사업과 연계된 더 큰 규모의 인수합병도 고려하고 있습니다.

경영진 가이던스

경영진은 2026년 연간 조정 EBITDA 전망치를 2억 9,000만~3억 달러로 축소 조정했습니다.

회사는 해당 범위가 환자 수와 단가의 변동성을 감안한 것이라고 밝혔습니다. 경영진은 4분기 전망치에 포함된 특정 비반복적 항목은 없다고 밝혔습니다.

페디아트릭스는 2027년 전망을 제시하지 않았습니다. 경영진은 현재 예산 편성 과정에 있으며 지불자 구성, 수가 코드 변경 및 기타 영업 요인을 모니터링하고 있다고 밝혔습니다.

리스크 및 주요 관찰 항목

• 경영진은 의료 서비스 제공 전반의 비용 상승을 언급했으나, 임금 인상률은 몇 년 전의 5%~9% 수준보다는 낮게 유지되고 있습니다.
• 회사는 ACA 보조금 만료에 따른 명확한 부정적 영향은 관찰되지 않았다고 밝혔으나, 지불자 구성 및 가입 관련 동향을 지속적으로 모니터링하고 있습니다.
• 의외의 비용 청구 방지법(No Surprises Act)의 IDR 규정은 여전히 검토 중입니다. 페디아트릭스는 압도적으로 네트워크 내 진료를 제공하며 네트워크 외 진료 비중은 통상 5% 미만이므로 영향이 제한적일 것으로 예상합니다.
• 산부인과 입원전담의 서비스에 영향을 미치는 수가 코드 변경이 2027년으로 예정되어 있으나, 경영진은 최종 규정과 의료 제공자의 대응이 여전히 불확실하다고 밝혔습니다. 해당 사업은 현재 페디아트릭스에 중요하지 않은 수준입니다.
• 병원의 재정적 압박으로 인해 행정 수수료 협상이 더 어려워질 수 있습니다. 경영진은 지원금 수령이 페디아트릭스가 NICU를 효율적으로 운영하고 병원이 직접 운영하는 것 대비 가치를 제공함을 입증하는 데 달려 있다고 밝혔습니다.

애널리스트 Q&A 하이라이트

단가 지속 가능성: 경영진은 우호적인 지불자 구성, 병원 행정 수수료, 높은 중증도가 지속적으로 긍정적인 요인으로 작용할 것으로 예상하면서도 각 요인이 변동될 수 있음을 인정했습니다. 이전의 수금 관련 수혜 효과는 비교 기준 측면에서 대부분 정체 상태에 도달했습니다.

4분기 전망: 연간 가이던스가 내포하는 EBITDA 수준에 대한 질문에, 경영진은 해당 범위가 특정 예상 역풍을 반영하기보다는 주로 환자 수와 단가 변화에 대한 유연성을 확보하기 위한 것이라고 설명했습니다.

자본 배분: 페디아트릭스는 자사주 매입에 대해 기회주의적인 태도를 유지할 계획입니다. 낮은 레버리지 비율 덕분에 인수 대상이 여성 및 아동 의료 사업과 연계되어 있다면 더 큰 규모의 인수합병을 추진할 수 있는 여력도 확보하고 있습니다.

병원 지원금: 경영진은 병원 지원금을 받는 NICU 진료소 비중이 절반에 훨씬 못 미치며, 그 비율은 전년 동기 대비 실질적인 변화가 없다고 밝혔습니다. 더 정확한 수치는 제시하지 않았습니다.

2027년 수가 코드 변경: 경영진은 규정이 확정되고 산부인과 의료진의 대응이 더 명확해지기 전까지는 잠재적 영향을 긍정적 또는 부정적으로 규정짓기를 사양했습니다.

실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

Hello, and thank you for standing by. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Q3 2026 Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to David Haddock, General Counsel. You may begin.

David Haddock

Good morning. Certain statements and information during this conference call may be deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by Pediatrix's management in light of their experience and assessment of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Any forward-looking statements made during this call are made as of today, and Pediatrix undertakes no duty to update or revise any such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Important factors that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from forward-looking statements are described in the company's filings with the SEC, including the sections entitled Risk Factors. In today's remarks by management, they will be focusing -- they will be discussing non-GAAP financial metrics. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measures can be found in this morning's earnings press release in the company's quarterly and annual reports and on the Pediatrix website at www.pediatrix.com. With that, I will turn the call over to Mark Ordan, Chief Executive Officer of Pediatrix Medical Group.

Mark Ordan

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. Also with me today is Kasandra Rossi, our Chief Financial Officer. We are pleased to report a strong quarter with adjusted EBITDA of $85 million. Same unit revenue was positive with equal contributions from volume and pricing, even with pricing reflecting the lapping of the tailwinds we experienced from strong collection activity over the past several quarters. Our overall results for the quarter exceeded our expectations in spite of increasing costs in virtually all areas of providing great health care. We are narrowing the range of our full year 2026 outlook to $290 million to $300 million in adjusted EBITDA. In the quarter, we repurchased just over 3 million shares of our stock, bringing our total buyback since August of 2025 to 10 million shares and our shares outstanding to 78 million, down from 87 million at the end of the second quarter of 2025. The average price of the 10 million share buyback is $23. For several quarters, I've been asked why our numbers have not been adjusted because of the effect of the lapse of the ACA subsidies. Well, as our results continue to show, we have still seen no clear negative effect to date.

Turning from the quarter to what gives us increased confidence in our future are several highlights I'll share. Our annual meeting of all of our practice medical directors 2 weeks ago had basically one agenda item, care quality. It may seem anomalous for a public company to hold such a meeting and not discuss scheduling, expenses, et cetera. However, we believe our core is about care and quality, and that's what our 300 directors came to discuss. It was, of course, led by our clinical leadership team, and my contribution was to be proud to be among our extraordinary clinicians. I've recently reported that we take advantage of our strong financial condition to support internal growth and to be in a position to find larger potential value-add outside opportunities. We continue to work on expanding our telehealth services as well as select opportunities in the OB hospitalist field. On the latter, announced coding changes are scheduled to take effect in 2027, and we will see then how this area changes in response. Of course, it is not a material part of our business at this point, and we'll plan to report to you as we all learn more.

We also know, of course, that the No Surprises Act IDR rules are being reviewed, and we have read about alleged abuses of the process. Pediatrix submits claims that we believe are right down the middle of the spirit and letter of the process rules. And we do not have an outsider determine in their view what is a proper claim. We determine that ourselves. We do not expect the process to be a headwind for us since it is designed to balance fairly the interest of payers and acute care providers who follow the rules.

I'll close by returning to quality. Dr. Medel founded Pediatrix with a clear charge: take care of the patient. That is what our patients and our hospital partners expect of us. Whenever we can find ways to improve, we do. And we do this only because we have, by far, the nation's largest team of world-class clinicians in our sector of women's and children's health. I'll now turn to Kasandra.

Kasandra Rossi

Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. Our consolidated revenue increased by just under 2%, driven by non-same unit activity, primarily recent acquisitions and same-unit growth of 60 basis points. Same-unit patient service volumes were up about 30 basis points, driven by MFM services, partially offset by declines in other neonatology services, primarily newborn nursery. NICU days were stable as compared to the prior year. Same unit pricing was also up by 30 points, driven by favorable payer mix, an increase in hospital admin fees and increased patient acuity primarily in neonatology.

As expected and as Mark stated, we've begun to lap the strong tailwind from improved collection activity, which is flowing through as a decrease in pricing this quarter. Payer mix improved by over 70 basis points as compared to the prior year third quarter and remained stable as compared to the second quarter of 2026. Practice level SW&B expenses increased year-over-year and on a same-unit basis reflected increases in salary expenses, partially offset by lower benefits expense. Salary growth has remained consistent with the ranges we have seen over the past couple of years in that 3% area. Our G&A expense increased year-over-year, primarily related to higher incentive-based compensation based on financial results, partially offset by lower technology-related expenses. D&A expense was up about $700,000 year-over-year, primarily reflecting CapEx at our existing units as well as CapEx and amortization of intangibles from recent acquisitions. Other nonoperating expenses were $200,000 for the third quarter compared to nonoperating income of $19.7 million for the prior year period. The prior year period reflected a net gain on divested businesses of $20.9 million. For the third quarter of '26, we also saw a decrease in interest expense from modestly lower interest rates and borrowings as compared to the prior year period.

Moving on to cash flow. We generated $118 million in operating cash flow in the third quarter compared to $138 million in the prior year, with the change driven by decreases in cash flow from accounts payable and accrued expenses and accounts receivable. Our leverage at 9/30 sits at just under 1x using the midpoint of our updated adjusted EBITDA outlook range for 2026 with cash of $312 million and net debt of just over $266 million. Our accounts receivable DSO at 9/30 of 42.5 days were unchanged from June 30 and March 31 and were down just over half a day year-over-year. I'll go ahead and turn the call back over to Mark.

Mark Ordan

Great. Thank you, Kasandra. And now we will take any questions that you have.

Operator

And your first question comes from the line of Andrew Ryan Daniels with William Blair.

질의응답

Matthew Mardula

This is Matthew Mardula on for Ryan. So, I want to start with pricing. With it coming in at 0.3%, could you break down how each factor's pricing made up this quarter's pricing, especially by quantifying what the RCM impact was? And then looking ahead. Go ahead, Kasandra.

Kasandra Rossi

Sorry, Matt, I cut you off your question. Please finish your question.

Matthew Mardula

No, I was just going to finish up with -- and then looking ahead to next quarter, how should we think about the sustainability of the pricing benefits we saw? And is there just any changes to the, kind of, key drivers of pricing than previously mentioned? And then with that RCM impact we saw this quarter, is that a reasonable way to think about it for next quarter as well?

Kasandra Rossi

Sure. So, first, I'll take the pricing components. And on the positive side, pricing was led by payer mix. A close second was the hospital administrative fees and coming in third was the acuity. So, I'd say for the payer mix impact, that was probably -- if you look at the positive impact for the pricing, it was about 40%. The hospital admin fee is about 25% and the acuity was about 15%. And maybe I'll hit the sustainability of those while we're talking about those. Listen, we've talked about the payer mix impact. It's continued to be favorable for us. And we don't anticipate anything changing there. But if anything, I think it will remain stable.

On the hospital admin fees, we talk about that each and every quarter. The hospital environment is tough. But when we require increases, we go to the hospital. We have those tough conversations, and we've been having success. So, we expect those conversations and those successes to continue. And on acuity, we talked about that a little bit in detail last quarter that we've looked at that really on a 3-year stack, and we have seen just a trajectory that takes that increasing. And of course, that is supported by the fact that we are in more Level 3s and Level 4s than anyone. So, we do consider those to be sustainable. But as with everything, there is variability and they do bounce around a bit.

And as far as the RCM, the lapping, we did start talking about that we would expect in the back half of the year to start seeing that lapping. It did impact the quarter by a little over 100 basis points. And I think right now, we are in a very steady state. But we have talked about continuing to look for ways to further automate. But we think that right now, it is very stable. But again, we'll look to deliver improvement there as we can over the next coming years.

Matthew Mardula

Great. And then in the prepared remarks, you, kind of, discussed the IDR process. Can you help us understand maybe the magnitude of IDR has on your business? Any, kind of, numbers around that? And then as we, kind of, look forward, what's giving you that confidence that this won't become a headwind, particularly if there's, like, many -- particularly if there are any changes to the IDR process that occurs?

Mark Ordan

Well, we're overwhelmingly, as we always have been, in network. So, the IDR process is not something that we've ever had to live based on. So, it's not -- I can't quantify it precisely. But again, we're always overwhelmingly in network.

Kasandra Rossi

Sorry, Matt. I was going to say with the changing rules, like Mark said, we don't anticipate -- we're one of those who -- like we said, we abide by the rules. We're doing the right thing. And so we don't anticipate any changes from the changes that are happening in that process.

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of A.J. Rice with UBS.

Albert Rice

Just to put a finer point on that, do you have a percentage of your revenues or claims or business that is in out of network at this point? I assume it's in the single digits, but is there a figure you can give us?

Mark Ordan

We have typically been out of network of less than 5% of our business. So, it's...

Albert Rice

About...

Mark Ordan

So, if that helps. With the IDR process now for several years. And as I said in my call, we've read about alleged abuses by others and people, I guess, as a learning, use different tactics. We think that the rules were well crafted, and we see the proposed changes. And we think the spirit and letter of the proposed changes is to make sure that there's a fair process between payers and providers.

In 2020, when the No Surprises Act first came out, we were supportive of it. We believe that if you're going to take care of the patient, the patient should be out of the middle. As long as the rules are fair and the payers are playing by the rules and providers are doing it the right way, we're comfortable.

Albert Rice

Yes. The company obviously came in ahead of expectations on the quarter, $85 million -- $85.5 million of EBITDA. You've updated the guidance. When I look at what that implies for fourth quarter, if I'm doing the math right, you get about $70 million to $80 million in EBITDA. Is there anything embedded in there? Is that natural seasonality? Is there something that doesn't recur that occurred in the Q3? Or are you just being conservative?

Kasandra Rossi

No, I'd say it just gives us a little bit of flexibility. Volumes have bounced around, pricing has bounced around, and it just gives us that flexibility to land in that range. So, nothing else baked in there, A.J.

Mark Ordan

No. A.J., it's only November.

Albert Rice

Okay. All right. You mentioned that you're still looking at high-value opportunities in adjacent businesses. I wondered maybe if I could get you to just flesh out what's behind that. What would be things that would be of interest to the company?

Mark Ordan

Well, I can only flesh it out a little bit. I'd say that what we have said repeatedly is that we have a very strong balance sheet, and we have the ability to make larger acquisitions. We strategically would only look at something that is in something adjacent to what we already do. So, staying in the women's and children's space is important to us. So, I'm just underscoring that when people look at our balance sheet and see our very low leverage, I don't want people to think that we're complacent and we're just sitting there. Yes, we've bought back shares, but not to the extent that it limits us from doing something if there's a very good opportunity. So, we do think in the women's and children's space are bound to be attractive opportunities, and we actively consider them.

Albert Rice

Okay. The level of share repurchase, I'll just wrap up with this. $83 million during the quarter. Any comments on pacing going forward on that?

Mark Ordan

No. We've tried to be opportunistic. We're happy that over the course of the last year, our average price was $23, which looks like it was a good buy. We'll consider along with the board what our pace going forward is. There are other opportunities.

Albert Rice

Yes. I understand.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Jack Slevin with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Jack Slevin

There's a note in the release on a little bit of, it sounds like, small disposition activity in the quarter. Could you maybe just provide a little more color on maybe what took place from practice dispositions or how you're approaching that?

Kasandra Rossi

Yes. No, that's just the carryover from the disposition activity that happened in '24. So, when we were talking about non-same unit, it's the net of the acquisitions and any dispositions. So, it's just natural flow-through of that.

Jack Slevin

Okay. Understood. I appreciate the clarification there. A lot of questions have already been asked. Maybe just to understand what you're seeing on the labor front or from, like, a wage inflation perspective, how that's, sort of, tracking underlying in the business?

Kasandra Rossi

Yes. So, I would just say we kind of talked about we've been able to keep those clinical salaries in the last couple of years in that 3%, 3.5% area. And so we're really comfortable that what we saw back a few years back where we were in the mid- to high single digits at times, we're not seeing that. So, nothing really more to say on that, Jack.

Jack Slevin

Okay. And then one more for me, just a quick one. The mentioning of some of the coding changes, my understanding is there's an unbundling that's looking to happen next year of some of the related codes in your space. For those services, the way that I had read it, if you, sort of, trend towards the higher side of the acuity scale, that unbundling might end up being a positive opportunity. Got your comment, Mark, that you're, sort of, still weighing it up and you'll see what happens on the coding front. But I just want to understand if you could, sort of, handicap whether or not you think that possibly is a positive or a negative for you as you look at '27.

Mark Ordan

Rather not handicap it because it's really going to -- first of all, the rules are going to be -- should be finalized in the next few weeks in November. So, handicapping it before it all comes out, I don't think is going to be particularly helpful. And we're going to see based on the rules, how OBs react to that. So, I think it's a little bit hard. Yes, there potentially, depending on how the rules shake out, there could be opportunities on the OBH side or more on the OB side. But I think it's too early to tell, both because the rules aren't finalized, and we don't know how people are going to react to the rules. But again, importantly, for us, it's not a material part of our business, and this gives us an opportunity to see how the rules change and what we make.

Operator

The next question comes from the line of Whit Mayo with Leerink Partners.

Benjamin Mayo

Sorry about that, guys. A little early this morning. I know you're in the budgeting process, the planning process for '27, but just was wondering if you could share any headwinds, tailwinds as you're thinking about next year?

Mark Ordan

No, not at this point. I think, obviously, we'll report. As you said, we're in the budgeting process. We're looking at a lot of things, but we're not going to talk today about '27. I've given the characterization of the things that we're looking at that stand out right now. I think that covers it.

Benjamin Mayo

Okay. Maybe just on, like, the exchange stuff, like, I know you haven't seen a headwind this year. Would you think that maybe you see a little bit of a slip in mix next year? Or just any preliminary thoughts as it relates to payer mix?

Mark Ordan

It's hard for me to say that because we're -- starting in the fourth quarter of last year, we were getting this question, and we said, well, we don't know. And when people say, why aren't you reducing your numbers, I said because I could pull a number out of the air, but we prefer not to do that. We like to do things based on numbers. And that has continued. So, we haven't seen anything that points to it. I hypothesize that, possibly because of the population that we serve, people are doing a different calculation about the value of insurance without the subsidies, but that's me sitting around trying to figure out why our results are different than some people's are. But other than that, we continue -- and a lot of people, I would say, probably you included, thought that by the -- sometime in the first or second quarter, we would see the effect, and we haven't. So, I'm not sitting here worried about what happens next year. I'll be paying attention to it. We do check. And when we hear something anecdotal, we track it down to see if it's affecting us, and it just hasn't.

Benjamin Mayo

Yes. Maybe just last one, Kasandra, you mentioned in your prepared comments lower technology expenses. Can you just elaborate a little bit more on what that was?

Kasandra Rossi

Yes. Just some of the SaaS costs that we had just rolling out of the P&L.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Pito Chickering with Deutsche Bank.

Pito Chickering

I guess looking at the pricing, what percent of your NICU practices today have subsidies from hospitals? How has that changed in the last year? And where you can go next year or, sort of, what inning are we in at this point of getting subsidies for your NICU?

Mark Ordan

Yes. I'm sorry, I just want to make sure I understand the question, Pito. You're asking what percentage of our NICU revenue comes from?

Pito Chickering

What percent of your NICU -- so if you have 1,000 NICU practices, are half of them getting subsidies from the hospitals? Sort of, where are we on that at this point? And how has that changed in the last year?

Kasandra Rossi

No. It's not half. It's much lower than that.

Mark Ordan

And there's not much change year-to-year.

Pito Chickering

Okay. Do you think that, that can continue to grow going forward? I mean, I'm trying to understand we're seeing pressures in hospitals from practices getting more subsidies. I'm just curious, I guess, let me ask it differently, what inning are you guys in, in order to get subsidies for your practices? Are we in the second or third inning here, or are we in the seventh or eighth inning?

Mark Ordan

I'm not -- what I'm about to say is not sidestepping the question. But -- so let me -- I'll respond to that. We work very closely with our hospital partners. And we think that along with taking care of the patient, it's very important that they know that we do things very efficiently so that they're better off with us running that NICU than if they did it themselves. And we think we have to demonstrate that value all the time.

So, it's not like you come to the end of the year and you have a discussion, you have a constant relationship with the hospital to show that you're adding value. The reason that you receive a payment from the hospital is because if they did it themselves, they would have that or a greater expense. So, it's not charity. It's saying that they understand the real cost involved in providing the care that we provide and all the expenses that go in it to make sure that they're confident that they have a really, really high functioning NICU.

So, we feel, as Kasandra said, I'm making -- I'm being longer-winded about it. We feel that while those discussions are a push and pull, we feel that we can continue to demonstrate value and be fair in the request that we make of hospitals. And I think if hospitals value us and what we do, we think we'll be okay. Is it a higher pressure environment with the Big Beautiful Bill? Sure. That adds -- that takes away from the system. So, that's going to provide pressure.

Pito Chickering

So, if I ask this a slightly different way, I guess, looking at the economics of a NICU a patient, the technical component the hospital gets is very large, and therefore, the relative cost of any subsidies, frankly, is sort of fairly inconsequential. And so keeping NICU practices happy is a very profitable endeavor for hospitals due to the technical component. I guess I'm just trying to ballpark today, sort of, where we are? Is it, like, 1/4 of your practices today have subsidies? Is that the right ballpark, plus or minus?

Mark Ordan

Well, maybe in the future date. We haven't published that number. I don't want to -- I'd rather not cut it. As Kasandra said, it's considerably less than half. I appreciate your comment about the relative economics for us versus the hospital system. We might add you to our negotiating team, you can be helpful.

Pito Chickering

All right. Fair enough. Okay. Just because you guys look at this thing in the next few years, that for me seems like a pretty massive driver for pricing as a durable set going forward. So, any color you can provide to us in terms of how this has changed over time would be very helpful.

Mark Ordan

Sure.

Operator

And there are no further questions at this time. I would like to hand it back to Mark Ordan for closing remarks.

Mark Ordan

Great. Thank you all for joining us this morning and for your continued support of Pediatrix. Have a great day.

Operator

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.