title: Mortality, length of stay, and inpatient charges for heart failure patients at public versus private hospitals in South Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compared in-hospital mortality within 30 days of admission, lengths of stay, and inpatient charges among patients with heart failure admitted to public and private hospitals in South Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained health insurance claims data for all heart failure inpatients nationwide between November 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012. These data were then matched with hospital-level data, and multi-level regression models were examined. A total of 8406 patients from 253 hospitals, including 31 public hospitals, were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The in-hospital mortality rate within 30 days of admission was 0.92% greater and the mean length of stay was 1.94 days longer at public hospitals than at private hospitals (mortality: 5.18% and 4.26%, respectively; LOS: 12.08 and 10.14 days, respectively). The inpatient charges were 11.4% lower per case and 24.5% lower per day at public hospitals than at private hospitals. After adjusting for patient- and hospital-level confounders, public hospitals had a 1.62-fold higher in-hospital mortality rate, a 16.5% longer length of stay, and an 11.7% higher inpatient charge per case than private hospitals, although the charges of private hospitals were greater in univariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We recommend that government agencies and policy makers continue to monitor quality of care, lengths of stay in the hospital, and expenditures according to type of hospital ownership to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce spending.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Administration, Namseoul University, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.; Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Cheol
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.; Department of Hospital Management, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Hyun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Milwaukee, WI, USA.; Center for Senior Health and Longevity, Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Ji Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.; Department of Hospital Management, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. leevan@yuhs.ac.
authors.forename: Sang Gyu
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D017722:Hospital Charges / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000191:economics*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000191:economics; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Public hospitals; fees and charges; length of stay; mortality
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