Over the past few years, the IRS has become a treasure trove of financial information regarding nonprofit healthcare organizations. In 2016, the IRS started to release Form 990 data in machine readable format, says Nicholas Newsad (Healthcare Transaction Advisors LLC). This includes financial statements, payments to major vendors and related parties, and employee compensation data. The compensation data are particularly valuable, Newsad says, because they show compensation for various types of employees including officers and directors, trustees, and key employees. This all adds up to about 1.3 million employee compensation data points going back to 2011. IRC Section 501(c)(3) organizations are required to make their Forms 990 available for public inspection, and the IRS releases new Form 990 data every month.

Speaking on a recent webinar with Timothy Smith (TS Healthcare Consulting), Newsad pointed out that about 49% of hospitals in the U.S. are nonprofit organizations as well as about 20% of nursing facilities and 10% of all home health agencies. The webinar, Using Government Data Sources to Revolutionize Healthcare Valuation, reveals other industry data that have recently emerged that can be used in healthcare valuation.