Article Abstract:
There are four aspects of accountability for nonprofit hospitals and health systems. The first is the political aspect, which pertains to the institution's tax-exempt status. The community aspect, which pertains to the health and social requirements of the community. The clinical and patient aspects, which requires providing access to quality health care services and lastly, the commercial aspect, which pertains to the responsibility of nonprofit hospitals to provide low-cost, high-quality medical services to various commercial patients.
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Article Abstract:
The premerger characteristics of Columbia and Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) are compared with local hospitals. Data on the two hospital groups' 170 acute care hospitals and controllable market variables such as competition, per capita income and local population indicate that patients of Columbia/HCA hospitals mostly comprised of personal payers instead of low-paying medicaid patients. This explains the hospitals' better financial performance despite their low occupancy rate and treatment of more complex cases.
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Article Abstract:
Previous studies have shown the feasibility of using activity-based costing (ABC) in hospital environments. However, many of these studies narrow the application of ABC to specific departments in health care organizations. Notwithstanding this limitation, a framework for the implementation of ABC in all aspects of hospital operations, including specialized services, is developed.
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