Hospital ownership could affect mortality rates
Study: For-profits do better on mortality scores
A hospital’s ownership status may have an effect on inpatient mortality rates. According to a new study, private, investor-owned hospitals scored significantly better on patient mortality scales than counterparts that are owned by government or not-for-profit entities such as counties or religious organizations.
The three-year study of hospital patient mortality data from 1995 through 1997 was conducted by The Center for Healthcare Industry Performance Studies, (CHIPS) a private Columbus, OH-based research firm.
After adjusting for case mix and patient severity, the data found that hospitals that are run by investor-owned organizations for profit fell into the third-highest quartile group when compared to low actual-to-expected patient mortality rates.
In comparison, government-owned and not-for-profit facilities fell one full quartile group below the investor-owned facilities.
The study looked at mortality rates at some 3,009 domestic acute care hospitals. It also measured inpatient lengths of stays hospitalwide, and did not separate critical care unit data. (For comparisons, see chart and graphs above.)
A 3.0 score on the chart indicates a B grade, or a ranking within the third-highest quartile of the survey. A score within 2.0 and 3.0 denotes a location in the second-highest quartile. No hospitals in the study received an A.
"The differences in the data displayed are quite large, and they demonstrate significantly lower mortality and lower lengths of stay for care provided in an investor-owned hospital," states William O. Cleverly, PhD, CHIPS’ president.
Researchers couldn’t point to any conclusive reason for the difference. However, they surmised that the higher quality scores among investor-owned facilities might stem from "an imperfection in the refined grouper used to assign severity levels to each DRG (diagnosis related group)."
By this, researchers meant they found a disparity in the number of teaching hospitals that fell into each sample group.
The investor-owned hospitals had a smaller percentage of teaching facilities in their sample compared with the other ownership groups, which could mean that the for-profit hospitals saw fewer severely ill patients than the others, researchers speculated.
In general, teaching hospitals tend to achieve lower quality scores than non-teaching facilities, the study reports. The study involves a massive patient database analysis. The data was taken from Medicare hospital reports classified by DRGs.
[Editor’s note: For information about the 1999 Performance Review — A Guide to U.S. Hospitals, contact: The Center for Healthcare Industry Performance Studies, 1550 Old Henderson Rd., Suite S-277, Columbus, OH 43220-3626. Telephone: (800) 859-2447. Web site: www.chipsonline.com.]
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