Hospital ownership and preventable adverse events

To determine whether hospital ownership was associated with preventable adv erse events, the authors reviewed the medical records of a random sample of 15,000 hospitalizations in Utah and Colorado in 1992. Hospitals were categ orized as nonprofit, for-profit, major teaching government (e.g., county, s tale ownership), and minor or nonteaching government. Multivariate analyses adjusting for other patient and hospital characteristics found that, when compared with patients in nonprofit hospitals, patients in minor or nonteac hing government hospitals were more likely to suffer a preventable adverse event of any type (odds ratio (OR), 2.46; 95 percent confidence interval (9 5% CI), 1.45 to 4.20); preventable operative adverse events (OR, 4.85; 95% CI, 2.44 to 9.62); and preventable adverse events due to delayed diagnoses and therapies (OR, 4.27; 95% CI, 1.48 to 12.31). Patients in for-profit hos pitals were also more likely to suffer preventable adverse events of any ty pe (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.03 to 2.38); preventable operative adverse events ( OR, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.42 to 4.87); and preventable adverse events due to dela yed diagnoses and therapies (OR, 4.15; 95% CI, 1.84 to 9.34). Patients in m ajor teaching government hospitals were less likely to suffer preventable a dverse drug events (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.89).