Hospital technology-environment interplay as determinants of mortality

Abstract

This study examines healthcare from an environmental point of view using the ecology theory of organizations as the underlying framework. This research attempts to understand how hospital services and their technology affect the community. The focus is on community characteristics, hospital services and technology available within the community and their influence on community mortality rates. The community is defined as a Healthcare Service Area (HCSA) which is determined by the hospital utilization pattern of individuals. Data from the 1995 Area Resource Files are utilized in this analysis. Lisrel, structural equation modeling, was utilized for data analysis. The results indicate that socioeconomic status, presence of teaching hospitals and the age of the population will have a greater influence on crude mortality rates than the actual services and technology that hospitals provide. In summary, the findings suggest that the discussion of healthcare needs to look beyond the hospitals and their high tech services and diagnostics to determine what services will actually benefit the community.

Citation

Toney, E.V. (2001), "Hospital technology-environment interplay as determinants of mortality", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Changing Consumers and Changing Technology in Health Care and Health Care Delivery (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 83-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0275-4959(01)80008-9