The effect of hospital ownership choice on patient outcomes after treatment for acute myocardial infarction

I examine the effect of ownership choice on patient outcomes after the treatment for acute myocardial infarction. I find that for-profit and government hospitals have higher incidence of adverse outcomes than not-for-profit hospitals by 3-4%. In addition, the incidence of adverse outcomes increases by 7-9% after a not-for-profit hospital converts to for-profit ownership, but there is little change in patient outcomes in other forms of ownership conversion. The findings are robust, whether I use the entire sample or subsamples of hospitals that share similar hospital and market characteristics. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.