ORGANIZATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL-FACTORS IN-HOSPITAL ALLIANCE MEMBERSHIP AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT - A RESOURCE-DEPENDENCE PERSPECTIVE

Using a resource-dependence perspective, we analyze the association be tween organizational and environmental characteristics and the likelih ood that nonprofit hospitals will enter into one of two forms of inter organizational relationship (IOR): hospital alliance membership or con tract management (n = 1,661). The former is representative of high aut onomy IORs, while the latter is representative of low autonomy IORs. R esults of logistic regression analysis indicate that hospitals with gr eater resources and more favorable payer mix are more likely to join a lliances, an IOR form which minimizes loss of autonomy. In addition, f acilities operating in less favorable environments are more likely to be contract managed and less likely to be alliance members.