title: The proliferation of health care contracts at a tertiary care hospital: organizational and financial impacts.
abstract: The impact of negotiation and management of numerous health insurance contracts on one tertiary care hospital's organization and costs is explored. Contract-related activities have proliferated within the organization, requiring extensive labor time and costs. Information exchange is the most time-consuming activity, suggesting that systems are needed both to facilitate transmission of information among hospital personnel, insurers, physicians, and review organizations and to reduce the variation among contracts.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Hospital, CA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bostrom
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mechanic
mesh_terms: D003284:Contract Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting; D007350:Insurance, Hospitalization / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D015274:Interdepartmental Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D010350:Patient Credit and Collection; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D014481:United States