TY  - JOUR
AU  - Barro,Jason R.
AU  - Huckman,Robert S.
AU  - Kessler,Daniel P.
TI  - The Effects of Cardiac Specialty Hospitals on the Cost and Quality of Medical Care
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11707
PY  - 2005
Y2  - October 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11707
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11707.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Jason Barro
280 Beacon St . #54
Boston, MA 02116
Tel: 617/267-4139
Fax: 617/496-7167
E-Mail: jason.barro@post.harvard.edu

Robert Huckman
435 Morgan Hall
Harvard Business School
Boston, MA  02163
Tel: 617/495-6649
E-Mail: rhuckman@hbs.edu

Daniel Kessler
Hoover Institution
Stanford University
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford, CA  94305
Tel: 650/723-0596
E-Mail: fkessler@stanford.edu
AB  - The recent rise of specialty hospitals -- typically for-profit firms that are at least partially owned by physicians -- has led to substantial debate about their effects on the cost and quality of care. Advocates of specialty hospitals claim they improve quality and lower cost; critics contend they concentrate on providing profitable procedures and attracting relatively healthy patients, leaving (predominantly nonprofit) general hospitals with a less-remunerative, sicker patient population. We find support for both sides of this debate. Markets experiencing entry by a cardiac specialty hospital have lower spending for cardiac care without significantly worse clinical outcomes. In markets with a specialty hospital, however, specialty hospitals tend to attract healthier patients and provide higher levels of intensive procedures than general hospitals.
ER  -