title: The effects of ownership and system affiliation on the economic performance of hospitals.
abstract: We investigated differences among five types of hospitals, defined by ownership (investor-owned or not-for-profit), system affiliation (system-affiliated or freestanding), and government sponsorship on 24 measures of economic performance. Using multivariate analysis of 1980 Medicare cost report and other data from a national sample of 561 hospitals, we found that investor-owned chain hospitals charged significantly more, and were more profitable, than all other types of hospitals except freestanding for-profits; there were no differences in productive efficiency that could be attributed to ownership or affiliation; the investor-owned hospitals had higher debt-to-asset ratios, less-capital-intensive plants, and greater capital costs as a percentage of operating costs than the not-for-profits; and there were no consistent case-mix differences among the hospitals.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Renn
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schramm
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Watt
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Derzon
mesh_terms: D002201:Capital Expenditures; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D004526:Efficiency; D005249:Fees and Charges; D005375:Financial Audit; D005376:Financial Management; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital; D006777:Hospitals, Proprietary / Q000191:economics; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000191:economics; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems / Q000191:economics; D009935:Organizational Affiliation; D010067:Ownership; D012494:Sampling Studies; D014481:United States