Quality of care and investment in property, plant, and equipment in hospitals.
OBJECTIVE
This study explores the relationship between quality of care and investment in property, plant, and equipment (PPE) in hospitals.


METHODS
Hospitals' investment in PPE was derived from audited financial statements for the fiscal years 1984-1989. Peer Review Organization (PRO) Generic Quality Screen (GQS) reviews and confirmed failures between April 1989 and September 1990 were obtained from the Massachusetts PRO.


METHODS
Weighted least squares regression models used PRO GQS confirmed failure rates as the dependent variable, and investment in PPE as the key explanatory variable.


METHODS
Investment in PPE was standardized, summed by the hospital over the six years, and divided by the hospital's average number of beds in that period. The number of PRO reviewed cases with one or more GQS confirmed failures was divided by the total number of cases reviewed to create confirmed failure rates.


RESULTS
Investment in PPE in Massachusetts hospitals is correlated with GQS confirmed failure rates.


CONCLUSIONS
A financial variable, investment in PPE, predicts certain dimensions of quality of care in hospitals.
Levitt
S W
SW
Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University School of Public Health, MA.
D002201:Capital Expenditures; D004865:Equipment and Supplies, Hospital; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital; D006302:Health Services Research; D006749:Hospital Design and Construction / Q000191:economics; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease; D007449:Investments / Q000191:economics; D008284:Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital / Q000191:economics; D008404:Massachusetts; D011366:Professional Review Organizations; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics*