June 21, 2006: Review Article Argues that Non-Profit Health Care Providers Often Provide Superior Service

An article published in the journal Health Affairs reports that on average nonprofit nursing homes and hospitals provide better quality service than those operating for a profit. The authors of the report, whose conclusions are based on a review of 162 studies comparing nonprofit and for-profit health care providers, found that the evidence suggests that nonprofit hospitals have lower mortality rates. Eight of the studies surveyed by the authors concluded that nonprofits have lower death rates while only one study reported that for-profits have lower mortality rates. The article also reports that non-profit hospitals have lower expenses on average. For nursing homes, the opposite is true. The review says that evidence suggests for-profits tend to mark their prices up to improve the bottom line. There is also evidence that they receive more complaints. Sixteen percent of all hospitals are for-profit, a five percent increase since the early 1990s. [Reuters, 1/21/2006]