TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kessler,Daniel
AU  - McClellan,Mark
TI  - The Effects of Hospital Ownership on Medical Productivity
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8537
PY  - 2001
Y2  - October 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8537
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8537.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Daniel Kessler
Hoover Institution
Stanford University
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford, CA  94305
Tel: 650/723-0596
E-Mail: fkessler@stanford.edu

Mark B. McClellan
Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies
Leonard .D. Schaeffer Director's Chair in
Health Policy ,The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 741-6567
Fax: NA
E-Mail: mmcclellan@brookings.edu
AB  - To develop new evidence on the effects of hospital ownership and other aspects of hospital market composition on health care productivity, we analyze longitudinal data on the medical expenditures and health outcomes of the vast majority of nonrural elderly Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for new heart attacks over the 1985-1996 period.  We find that the effects of ownership status are quantitatively important.  Areas with a presence of for-profit hospitals have approximately 2.4 percent lower levels of hospital expenditures, but virtually the same patient health outcomes.  We conclude that for-profit hospitals have important spillover benefits for medical productivity.
ER  -