• J R Meurer, E M Kuhn, V George, J S Yauck, and P M Layde.
• Center for the Advancement of Urban Children, Department of Pediatrics.Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
• Pediatrics. 1998 Dec 1;102(6):E70.

BackgroundThe ownership, location, and teaching status of hospitals affect their missions, policies, finances, and operations.ObjectiveThis study assesses the relationship of hospital ownership, location, and teaching status with charges and length of stay for children with asthma, the most common reason for pediatric admission after birth.MethodsAll 28 545 complete records of patients ResultsAsthma severity did not differ significantly by hospital location or teaching status. Nonprofit hospitals treated a slightly higher proportion of children with major or extreme severity asthma than either public or for-profit hospitals. Urban teaching hospitals treated more children with asthma who lived in low-income neighborhoods, were uninsured, or received Medicaid coverage than urban nonteaching hospitals. For-profit hospitals admitted fewer children with asthma from low-income areas than did public hospitals. The ALOS was 2.5 days and did not differ significantly by hospital ownership, location, or teaching status. However, the mean total charges, after adjusting for all other significant covariates, was higher at for-profit ($4203) than at nonprofit ($3640) or public hospitals ($3620). Average charges also were higher at urban teaching ($4230) and lower at rural institutions ($2910) compared with urban nonteaching hospitals ($3424).ConclusionsDespite similar ALOS, mean charges for childhood asthma varied significantly by hospital ownership, location, and teaching status. Implications. Additional clinical and outpatient data are needed to study variations in quality of care by hospital characteristics. With the proliferation of investor-owned hospitals, both the reasons for and the impact of higher average charges at for-profit institutions require additional investigation. With the expanding needs of the medically underserved, socially just policies are required for financing hospitals that care for a disproportionate share of economically disadvantaged children.

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