Managed care and technical efficiency

By focusing exclusively on consumer benefit, previous studies of the effects of managed care have ignored important hospital efficiency gains. This study uses the HCUP sample of hospitals for 1992-1996 to estimate a stochastic frontier model of hospital technical efficiency. After controlling for hospital and market area variables, the study finds strong evidence that increased managed care insurance in a given market is associated with improved technical efficiency in the area's hospitals, especially in tertiary cases. Using Battese and Coelli's one-stage method (1995), the coefficients estimates are more efficient than for two-stage methods found in the literature.

Sole hospital commitment to health promotion and disease prevention (HPDP) services: does ownership matter?

Hospitals have been increasingly involved in health promotion and disease prevention (HPDP) in the last two decades. Concurrent with this trend, environmental changes and market pressures have resulted in more hospital consolidations and conversions from not-for-profit (NFP) to for-profit (FP) organizations. The emergence of a large number of sole community hospitals has attracted the attention of policy-makers and community stakeholders because sole community hospitals have more power in the local market and may discontinue unprofitable services to pursue profit maximization. This may be especially true when the sole hospital is a FP organization. On the other hand, sole community hospitals are confronted with a variety of expectations to offer community-oriented services that promote community population health, regardless of ownership. There is relatively little literature that has attempted to examine the behavior of sole community hospitals. This study depicts the profile of sole hospitals' involvement in HPDP services and estimates the possible influence of community constituencies on hospitals with respect to their providing community-oriented services. The results indicate that typically, when there is only one hospital in the community, hospital ownership has no significant influence on hospital HPDP services than their NPD counterparts. Implications for policy-makers and health care leaders are also discussed.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing mortality rates of private for-profit and private not-for-profit hospitals

BACKGROUND

Canadians are engaged in an intense debate about the relative merits of private for-profit versus private not-for-profit health care delivery. To inform this debate, we undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing the mortality rates of private for-profit hospitals and those of private not-for-profit hospitals.

METHODS

We identified studies through an electronic search of 11 bibliographical databases, our own files, consultation with experts, reference lists, PubMed and SciSearch. We masked the study results before determining study eligibility. Our eligibility criteria included observational studies or randomized controlled trials that compared private for-profit and private not-for-profit hospitals. We excluded studies that evaluated mortality rates in hospitals with a particular profit status that subsequently converted to the other profit status. For each study, we calculated a relative risk of mortality for private for-profit hospitals relative to private not-for-profit hospitals and pooled the studies of adult populations that included adjustment for potential confounders (e.g., teaching status, severity of illness) using a random effects model.

RESULTS

Fifteen observational studies, involving more than 26 000 hospitals and 38 million patients, fulfilled the eligibility criteria. In the studies of adult populations, with adjustment for potential confounders, private for-profit hospitals were associated with an increased risk of death (relative risk [RR] 1.020, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.003-1.038; p = 0.02). The one perinatal study with adjustment for potential confounders also showed an increased risk of death in private for-profit hospitals (RR 1.095, 95% CI 1.050-1.141; p < 0.0001).

INTERPRETATION

Our meta-analysis suggests that private for-profit ownership of hospitals, in comparison with private not-for-profit ownership, results in a higher risk of death for patients.

Big guns take aim at RN crunch

Johnson & Johnson leads the way as major organizations pump money and expertise into trying to alleviate a nurse shortage that experts say may never completely go away. One strategy: enhance the image of the field so it becomes a profession of choice among men and young people, including those from ethnic minorities.

Implementation of PET scan as a new service

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a diagnostic test using injected radiopharmaceuticals (drugs or compounds tagged with radioactive isotopes) to obtain images of metabolic/physiologic processes. PET provides physiologic data rather than just anatomic data such as that provided by CT scan or MRI. Metabolic changes precede anatomic changes, hence the higher accuracy of PET. Scar tissue, necrosis and tumor mass may appear identical on CT and MRI, but markedly different on PET. PET may decrease unnecessary surgeries and improve treatment through greater specificity about the disease and may provide a better evaluation of recurrent disease.

Treatment choices and informed consent in psychiatry: implications of the Osheroff case for the profession

In a case that is presently pending, a patient sued a private psychiatric facility alleging that the hospital committed malpractice by treating his disorder through psychodynamic rather than biological techniques. In this article, the author discusses the potential implications this suit may have for psychiatrists faced with making decisions about alternative treatment modalities. The article also discusses the role of the informed consent doctrine in this decision-making process. The impact of third-party reimbursement and the erosion of the so-called “respectable minority” rule are also discussed.