A different problem from the one platforms solve
A diligence or strategy project usually asks a short list of questions: which facilities are in this market, who operates each one, who owns the operator, and what else that owner runs. The answer has to be right, cited and in a spreadsheet before the deadline.
Enterprise platforms are built for continuous use across sales, analytics and research. This reference is built for that narrower question: one record per physical facility, tied to its operator and up to its ultimate owner, with the source and date of each link.
At a glance
| This reference | Definitive Healthcare | AHD (ahd.com) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facility to ultimate owner, with intermediate entities | Yes, each link dated and sourced | System affiliation; ownership depth varies by product | Hospital system search and comparison; no ownership chain |
| Nursing home ownership, facility by facility | Yes, from CMS ownership records | Check with vendor | No (hospitals; separate ASC app) |
| Urgent care sites and operators | Sites yes; operators for most chains, verification of single sites ongoing | Yes (ClinicView; about 10,200 active clinics by its own count) | No |
| Hospital financials, cost centers and quality measures | Margins and payer mix from cost reports | Yes | Yes: five years of financials, departments, quality, inpatient and outpatient statistics |
| Contacts and executives | No | Yes | Key contacts on the hospital profile |
| Claims and referral data | No | Yes | Medicare inpatient and outpatient utilization statistics |
| Price | USD 199 a year for site access; USD 999 for one vertical's CSV with a year of access | Median USD 50,000 a year (Vendr, 33 purchases, page updated February 2026, checked October 2026) | USD 445 a year for one user; USD 310 to 400 per user for 2 to 35 users; enterprise on request (ahd.com, checked October 2026) |
Where this reference is stronger
- Every ownership link carries its source and the date it was last confirmed, so a diligence memo can cite it.
- Nursing homes are mapped to their operators and chains from CMS records, home by home.
- Changes are kept as history, so you can see when an operator or owner changed.
- Public pages for every provider and market let you check coverage before you buy.
Where AHD is stronger
- Hospital financial and operating detail from Medicare cost reports: five years of statements, cost centers, cost-to-charge ratios and staffing.
- Medicare inpatient and outpatient utilization by MS-DRG, APC and diagnosis, and patient origin.
- Add-on apps for ASC, market and system comparisons, at low per-user prices.
AHD is a hospital statistics service, not an ownership reference: it does not trace a facility to its operator and owners, and it does not cover nursing homes or urgent care. AHD is a private company and is not the American Hospital Association (AHA).
Where Definitive Healthcare is stronger
- Contacts, executives and org charts of people, which this reference does not offer.
- Claims, referral and procedure-volume data.
- Physician-level data and broad coverage of provider types beyond facilities.
If you need those, keep your platform and use this reference for ownership alone.
How teams use both
Diligence teams typically screen a market in their main platform, then confirm who actually owns each target, and what else that owner runs, with a sourced ownership chain before the memo goes out.
Teams without a platform license use the reference on its own for a single project: the facilities in one market, with operators and owners, ready to filter in Excel.
Questions
Is this a replacement for Definitive Healthcare or AHD?
No. It covers ownership and operators in depth and leaves out contacts, claims and detailed hospital statistics. Many buyers use it alongside a platform or an AHD subscription; others need only the ownership data for one project.
Is AHD the American Hospital Association?
No. The American Hospital Directory (ahd.com) is a private company that sells hospital statistics built mainly from Medicare data. The American Hospital Association publishes its own survey data separately.
Can I get just one market or one set of facilities?
Yes. Send the market or the list of facilities you are working on and we will scope the data to that project.
Where does the price comparison come from?
Definitive Healthcare does not publish prices. The figure is the median of 33 purchases reported on Vendr, from a page last updated in February 2026 and checked again in October 2026. Reported contracts ranged from about USD 21,000 to USD 256,000 a year.
Can I see the data before buying?
Yes. Every provider and market page is public, and the example owner report and county market are fully unlocked.