Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2013 - (Page 126)

hospital Ownership and community Benefit: Looking Beyond Uncompensated care Paula H. Song, PhD, assistant professor, health services management and policy, College of Public Health, Ohio State University, Columbus; Shoou-Yih D. Lee, PhD, associate professor, health management and policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Jeffrey A. Alexander, PhD, professor emeritus, health management and policy, University of Michigan; and Eric E. Seiber, PhD, assistant professor, health services management and policy, Ohio State University E X E C U t i V E S U M M a r Y not-for-profit (nfP) hospitals have come under increased public scrutiny for management practices that are inconsistent with their charitable focus. Of particular concern is the amount of community benefit provided by nfP hospitals compared to for-profit (fP) hospitals given the substantial tax benefits afforded to nfP hospitals. This study examines hospital ownership and community benefit provision beyond the traditional uncompensated care comparison by using broader measures of community benefit that capture charitable services, community assessment and partnership, and community-oriented health services. The study sample includes 3,317 nongovernment, general, acute care, community hospitals that were in operation in 2006. Data for this study came from the 2006 american hospital association hospital Survey and the 2006 area resource file. We used multivariate regression analyses to examine the relationship between hospital ownership and five indicators of community benefit, controlling for hospital characteristics, market demand, hospital competition, and state regulations for community benefit. We found that nfP hospitals report more community benefit activities than do fP hospitals that extend beyond uncompensated care. Our findings underscore the importance of defining and including activities beyond uncompensated care when evaluating community benefit provided by nfP hospitals. for more information about the concepts in this article, contact Dr. Song at psong@cph.osu.edu. 126

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2013

Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2013
Contents
Interview
Equity of Care
Integrated Health Systems
Are Real Teams Healthy Teams?
Discrete Event Simulation for Healthcare Organizations: A Tool for Decision Making
Hospital Ownership and Community Benefit: Looking Beyond Uncompensated Care
How Satisfied Are Healthcare Systems with Their Ownership of Retail Clinics?

Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2013