Weighing the effects of vertical integration versus market concentration on hospital quality

In this episode, we are joined by Marah Short, Associate Director of the Center for Health & Biosciences at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, to discuss their new study that looked at the effects of hospital mergers and physician practice acquisitions on hospital quality. Highlights of this episode include: background behind the study that looked at whether patient outcomes were improved by physician practice acquisitions and hospital mergers, details on the data used for study, including 29 different quality measures and US hospital-level data from over 4,000 hospitals, a look at some of the study's interesting results in areas of physician-hospital integration and market concentration, what the study's findings mean for healthcare providers moving forward, and more...