Hospital control and decision making: a financial perspective.

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that there are no significant differences in financial decision making among hospitals in different control categories. Significant differences were found in financial decision making in for-profit hospitals, voluntary hospitals with religious affiliations, and secular voluntary hospitals. Managers of for-profit hospitals base their financial decisions more on the need to achieve operating efficiency and profitability than do managers of voluntary hospitals. Managers of voluntary hospitals with religious affiliations and secular voluntary hospitals give about the same emphasis to efficiency. Surprisingly, however, managers of voluntary hospitals with religious affiliations emphasize profitability and financial leverage more than managers of secular voluntary hospitals do.