Are public hospitals in New York City inferior to voluntary, nonprofit hospitals? A study of JCAH hospital surveys.

All 60 non-profit, acute-care hospitals in New York City were grouped into three classes: publicly supported hospitals (HHCs), voluntary hospitals under 400 beds (CHs), and voluntary hospitals over 400 beds (SHs). 11 functional areas listed in Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals 1980-1982 surveys were analyzed to compare recommendations for improving cited deficiencies. The survey findings showed that HHCs had a mean of 37.8 recommendations per hospital compared to 42.7 for CHs and 46.9 for SHs. The 11 functions were aggregated into three major components: safety, support, and direct medical services. CHs had fewer safety mean recommendations per hospital (18.7) than SHs (22.2) and HHCs (22.2), but on support and direct medical service components HHCs had fewer recommendations than the other two hospital groups. HHCs had fewer recommendations on nine of 11 functions compared to the other hospitals. Based on these data, HHCs do not appear inferior to either class of voluntary hospitals.