Measuring organizational performance in the hospital industry: an exploratory comparison of objective and subjective methods.

One of the major challenges facing health services management researchers is the measurement of various aspects of organizational performance. This challenge is exacerbated by a reluctance of many healthcare organizations to share data with researchers because of a fear of competitor access to these data. Even where objective, reliable and valid measures of organizational performance are available, typically they are available only in aggregate form, rather than for individual organizations. In response to these constraints, researchers have used subjective measures of performance often based on the perception of key executives. This research compares the subjective perceptions of hospital executives to the objective financial performance data of 60 hospitals. While the correlations between the subjective and objective measures vary, return of assets (ROA) and operating margin are the most valid subjective financial measures of hospital performance. Implications for future research are discussed.

Public and private perspectives on hospital conversions: proposed MUSC-Columbia/HCA "partnership".

Conversion has been defined as "any type of transaction that results in the shift of all or a substantial portion of the assets of nonprofit health care organizations to for-profit use" (Claxton and Colleagues, 1997:10-11). Not surprisingly, efforts at such conversion create political conflict and opposition within communities with some groups supporting and others opposing the intended conversion. This study looks at a particular effort at conversion: the proposed "partnership" between three hospitals of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Columbia/HCA, the largest for-profit health services network in the U.S. Beginning in 1995, the three-year effort (now at an impasse) has drawn local and state policy-markers into increasing controversy and acrimony. Beyond the details, the episode also raises fundamental issues about the nature of public health care and the extent to which we can convert public health facilities to private control while preserving their essential public missions.

Essential dimensions of a marketing strategy in the hospital industry.

This paper reviews existing literature and defines essential dimensions of a hospital's marketing strategy for each of two business strategies; using the results of a national survey, this study confirms that hospitals make different marketing decisions based on the type of business strategy adopted by the hospital.

Implementing marketing strategy (Part four).

Every organization must monitor and evaluate the performance of its marketing strategies. The health care marketer must continually develop effective measures related to outcomes so that marketing efforts can be justified and garnish the support and resources they deserve. A major task for the marketing executive for the next decade is to develop marketing strategies and prove that those strategies are being met and that they help the health care organization carry out its objective to meet its mission.