Hospital ownership and its effect on medical costs from case payments using data from cesarean section patients

Objective: The relationship between hospital ownership and charge per discharged cesarean section patient was studied. Materials and Methods: This study used the National Health Insurance Research Database of 2000. The subjects were patients undergoing a cesarean section from January 2000 to December 2000. Multiple regression was performed to explore the relationship between cost per discharge and hospital ownership after adjustment for accredited hospital level, whether a hospital was a teaching hospital, patient's age, and length of stay (LOS). Results: This study found that cost per discharge was significantly related to hospital ownership. This suggests that the costs for patients undergoing a cesarean section who were admitted to public hospitals were more likely to be higher than for those admitted to private hospitals. Conclusions: Hospital ownership is related to cost per discharge. Possible factors contributing to the relationship between hospital ownership and costs are hospital efficiency, the implementation of clinical pathways, patient dumping, and LOS.