Examining the relationship between patient care quality, patient care safety and financial status of greater Chicago’s acute care hospitals

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether there is a relationship between patient care quality and safety and the financial status of acute care hospitals in the greater Chicago area. The methodology was to identify a random sample of 204 acute care hospitals. Patient care quality was operationalised as hospital readmission rates for pneumonia patients, heart failure patients and heart attack patients within 30 days of discharge. Patient care safety was operationalised as hospital-acquired infections. The results indicated that patient care quality and patient care safety were both positively associated with the hospital’s financial status. The conclusion was that the results underscore prevalent disparities in safety and quality of health care between hospitals with limited financial resources and those with sufficient financial resources. These disparities may spur healthcare management professionals to identify the best practices in the healthcare system to improve the quality and safety of health care in low financial status acute care hospitals. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/