With the global spending of more than US$4.1 trillion in 2007, healthcare has been one of the largest industries worldwide. To better plan and develop the healthcare system, an effective way is to leverage on the advancement of information technology (IT). However, despite of many attempts in the computerization and automation of healthcare services, most of the healthcare information systems f...

This paper examines the extent to which agglomeration of the hospital service industry enhances the productivity of producing health care. Specifically, we use a large set of private insurance claims from the FAIR Health database to show that an increasing spatial concentration of hospital services results in a decreased cost of obtaining intermediate medical services. We explicitly test whethe...

We examine competition in the hospital industry, in particular the effect of ownership type (for-profit, not-for-profit, government). We estimate a structural model of demand and pricing in the hospital industry in California, then use the estimates to simulate the effect of a merger. California hospitals in 1995 face an average price elasticity of demand of -4.85. Not-for-profit hospitals face...

The private health insurance industry collected $47.1 billion in premiums in 1977 and returned $41.6 billion in benefits to their subscribers. Premiums rose 16.3 percent as a direct consequence of rapid claims growth in 1976. After operating expenses were deducted, the industry showed a small, $.4 billion underwriting loss. About 78 percent of the population were insured for hospital care, and ...

The private health insurance industry collected $55.9 billion in premiums in 1979 and returned $50.2 billion in benefits to its subscribers. Premiums rose 12.4 percent, slightly faster than in 1978 when premiums rose 11.4 percent, to $49.7 billion. Benefits rose 11.4 percent in 1979, down from the 12.6 rate in 1978. After operating expenses were deducted, the industry showed underwriting losses...

Hospital websites are becoming an industry standard as patients (consumers) and health professionals use web resources for information, research, and communication. Industry predictions focused on future e-hospitals that would integrate all stakeholders in a seamless network allowing data to be shared. This paper investigates web assurance strategies implemented by hospitals in the design of th...

The Canadian Hospital Executive Simulation System (CHESS) is a computer-based management decision-making game designed specifically for Canadian hospital managers. The paper begins with an introduction on the development of business and health services industry-specific simulation games. An overview of CHESS is provided, along with a description of its development and a discussion of its educat...

During the past decade the hospital industry has made profound organizational changes, including the extensive consolidation of hospitals through merger and the formation of hospital systems. Although the rate of hospital system acquisitions may be slowing, the local presence of hospital systems is growing. Locally concentrated systems have been formed by both for-profit and nonprofit hospitals...

conclusions the frequency of nis in this hospital was lower in comparison with other worldwide studies. however, low incidence of health care-associated infections in our study may be due to under diagnosis and underreporting of such infections by health care staff. results the incidence of nis was low (i.e. < 2%). among 16936 admitted patients in this hospital, 174 patients (79 males and 95 fe...