Hospital Responses to Competitive and Regulatory Pressures: The Role of Organizational Form in Changing Markets

Have hospital responses to the changing reimbursement systems and cost containment pressures since the implementation of Medicare's prospective payment system varied systematically with ownership (for-profit or nonprofit) and the nature of the markets in which hospitals operate? To examine these issues, this project conducted descriptive and econometric analyses of hospital financial and discharge data from California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Washington as well as conduct case studies and industry interviews. The researchers modeled how the behavior of a hospital market depends on its mix of hospitals and what factors influence the mix of hospitals in a given community.