Determinants of hospital loss in Thailand: experience from the first year of a universal coverage health insurance program.
The objective of this study was to examine determinants of hospital loss in Thailand. Administration national data for 640 public hospitals of fiscal year 2002 from Ministry of Public Health were analyzed. Results showed that various managerial, service mix, and market variables were significantly associated with the likelihood of the hospital being unprofitable. Hospital characteristics were associated with the amount of loss. The results also suggested that managing the number of hospital employees, inventory, and patient hospitalization could control the amount of loss. In conclusion, most of identified factors associated with hospital loss were manageable. The ramification of this study was to help policy makers understand the hospital loss situation in Thailand after implementing the UC scheme and design policy to resolve the hospital loss problems.
Ngorsuraches
Surachat
S
Department of Pharmacy Administration, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai, Songkhla 90112 Thailand. surachat.n@psu.ac.th
Sornlertlumvanich
Attapon
A
D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D004469:Economics, Hospital / Q000639:trends*; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics; D013785:Thailand; D019472:Universal Health Insurance / Q000191:economics