Research published in the June 2008 issue of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety shows significant variation in the quality of care provided by health systems across the country. In the findings, not-for-profit health systems had, on average, quality scores 7 percent higher than for-profit health systems, and more centralized health systems had 5 percent higher overall quality scores than decentralized health systems.
Researchers with the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement analyzed data from more than 70 health systems, representing more than 1,500 hospitals in the United States. Variation on quality scores in 19 publicly reported quality measures for health systems was substantial, ranging from 70 percent to 94 percent overall. Additionally, for-profit health systems and systems that are more decentralized were appreciably lower in quality scores for pneumonia, heart failure, heart attack, and surgical care. Read the abstract. Access the list of rankings.
