The Impact of Hospital Quality on Profits,Volume, and Length of Stay

Using 2006–2007 data from a sample of 6,082 U.S. hospitals, quality of care measures developed by the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) are applied to heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgery. Quality of care for these was related to both higher profits per case and increased number of cases. Length of stay was inversely related to quality of care for preventative (surgical and heart attack) care.