Taxonomy of health networks and systems: a reassessment.

Objective: To assess a widely recognized multihospital system taxonomy.

Data Sources: The original taxonomy was based on American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Data for the years 1994 and 1995 and a reexamined version, on 1998 AHA data.

Study Design: We assess the appropriateness of using data designed to capture local hospital/system interrelationships to develop a taxonomy of multihospital systems. DATA ABSTRACTION METHODS: The original and reexamined taxonomies used dichotomous measures of service availability, physician practice ownership, and managed care offerings.

Principal Findings: The data and measures used to formulate the taxonomy are not appropriate for classifying multihospital systems at the company level.

Conclusions: Taxonomic studies of multihospital systems are very much needed; future taxonomic studies should make clear distinctions between systems at local versus company levels.