An empirical investigation of quality improvement initiatives in for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals: environmental, competitive and outcome concerns.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to shed some light on quality improvement practices of for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals

Design/methodology/approach: The scope and effectiveness of several quality improvement efforts are studied for a sample of 110 hospitals. Factor analysis was utilized to analyze the data collected.

Findings: The results of this study tended to suggest that for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals were more similar than different with the regard to the effective utilization of quality improvement initiatives, thus underscoring the utility of quality improvement efforts despite differences in operating characteristics, strategies and operating constraints.

Research limitations/implications: The sample used in this study is limited. Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly.

Practical implications: This study offers decision-makers in healthcare operational settings empirical evidence of the operational and strategic effectiveness of different quality improvement efforts, thus justifying investments related to the initiation and implementation of such quality improvement efforts.

Originality/value: This study represents an important step toward understanding the effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different operational settings.