title: An assessment of hospital acquisition prices.
abstract: Although much has been written about hospital acquisitions by investor-owned systems, little attention has been paid to how the systems determine the prices they are willing to pay for acquired hospitals. In this study, we attempted to ascertain whether certain market and management variables explain the purchase price of 37 hospitals acquired by investor-owned systems during the period 1978-1984. Our findings suggest that the systems were willing to pay a higher price per bed for more highly utilized facilities in high-income community settings, but paid less for older, aging facilities that were more likely to require major capital improvements after acquisition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Administration, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McCue
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McCue
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wheeler
mesh_terms: D001509:Bed Occupancy; D002201:Capital Expenditures; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004469:Economics, Hospital; D006268:Health Facilities / Q000191:economics*; D006273:Health Facility Merger / Q000191:economics*; D006777:Hospitals, Proprietary / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007182:Income; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems / Q000191:economics*