An empirical investigation of quality improvement initiatives in for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals: environmental, competitive and outcome concerns.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to shed some light on quality improvement practices of for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals


METHODS
The scope and effectiveness of several quality improvement efforts are studied for a sample of 110 hospitals. Factor analysis was utilized to analyze the data collected.


RESULTS
The results of this study tended to suggest that for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals were more similar than different with the regard to the effective utilization of quality improvement initiatives, thus underscoring the utility of quality improvement efforts despite differences in operating characteristics, strategies and operating constraints.


CONCLUSIONS
The sample used in this study is limited. Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly.


CONCLUSIONS
This study offers decision-makers in healthcare operational settings empirical evidence of the operational and strategic effectiveness of different quality improvement efforts, thus justifying investments related to the initiation and implementation of such quality improvement efforts.


CONCLUSIONS
This study represents an important step toward understanding the effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different operational settings.
Miller
Phillip
P
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA. millerpe@etsu.edu
Yasin
Mahmoud M
MM
Zimmerer
Thomas W
TW
D000328:Adult; D004465:Economic Competition; D036262:Empirical Research; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D013714:Tennessee