[Differences between public and private hospital care in Spain: the realities of health care or a numerical fallacy?].
OBJECTIVE
To give an example of the misleading interpretations of the concepts "public and private" when dealing with simple data from hospital resources and activities in Spain.


METHODS
Data comes from the survey of hospitals (EESCRI) for the year 2002 in Catalonia. Using the figures corresponding to resources (number of centers and beds) and activities (discharges, stays, mean stay, occupancy, and rotation) comparisons are made among different variables (managing authority and funding source) reclassified, according to the concepts of public and private.


RESULTS
The figures on resources and activities offer a very different portrait about the public or private nature of the care provided, according to the variables being used for classification.


CONCLUSIONS
It is necessary to specify the concepts and variables to be used when analyzing the performance of health services and to improve the information sources in order to adapt them to the new management forms of the health services.
Gispert
Rosa
R
Servei d'informació i estudis, Departament de Salut, Barcelona, España. rosa.gispert@gencat.net
Giné
Josep M
JM
D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D013030:Spain