Influence of Not-for-Profit Hospital Ownership Type on Community Benefit and Charity Care.

Non-profit hospitals are expected to provide charity care and other community benefits to adjust their tax exemption status. Using the Medicare Hospital Cost Report, American Hospital Association Annual Survey, and the American Community Survey datasets, we examined if church-affiliated hospitals spent more on charity care and community benefit. For this analysis, we defined five main categories of community benefits were measured: total community benefit; charity care; Medicaid shortfall; unreimbursed other means-tested services; and the total of unreimbursed education and unfunded research.

Separate or United: The Safety Net in the Era of Health Care Integration.

Rapid and significant transformation is occurring within the private sector of the health care system with consolidation, integration and the formation of new organizational structures such as Accountable Care Organizations. However, the safety-net systems upon which many patients rely, have remained largely in silos. To focus a spotlight on this issue at a community level we have compared the safety net in Alameda County, California and Denver, Colorado, the former with a safety net largely in silos and the latter an integrated safety net.