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KMID : 0926620080130040001
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Korean Journal of Hospital Management
2008 Volume.13 No. 4 p.1 ~ p.26
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The Causality between the Number of Medical Specialists and the Managerial Performance in General Hospitals
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Ryu Chung-Kul
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Abstract
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This study examines the statistical relationship between medical specialists and managerial performance, using regression analysis with the number of medical specialists per 100 beds as the independent variable and the managerial performance index as the dependent variable. Managerial performance index incorporated the number of out-patients per specialist, the number of in-patients per specialist, the volume of revenue per specialist, the number of beds per specialist, and the average length of stay. To compare different groups of hospitals, dummy variable was applied to five groups of hospitals according to size: 100-299 beds, 300-599 beds, 600-899 beds, 900-1199 beds, and more than 1200 beds. The data consisted of 181 general hospitals with more than 100 beds, which included 28 public hospitals, 73 corporate hospitals, 64 university hospitals and 16 private hospitals. Of those, 87 hospitals were located in big cities and 94 hospitals in medium to small cities. This study used hospitals from the Korean Hospital Association, and data published in 2004. The collected data sample was analyzed using the SPSSWIN 12.0 version, and the study hypothesis was tested using regression analysis. The findings of this study are summarized as follows: Hypothesis 1 predicting a negative effect of the number of medical specialists on the number of out-patients per specialist was supported with statistical significance. The analysis of dummy variable showed causality in all the hospital groups larger than the group of 100-299 beds. Hypothesis 2 predicting a negative effect of the number of medical specialists on the number of in-patients per specialist was supported with statistical significance. The analysis of dummy variable showed causality in the hospital group of 300-599 beds when compared to the group of 100-299 beds. Hypothesis 3 predicting a negative effect of the number of medical specialists on the volume of revenue per specialist was not supported. However, the analysis of dummy variable showed that the volume of revenue per specialist increased in the hospital groups of 600-899 beds, 900-1199 beds, and over 1200 beds, when compared to the group of 100-299 beds. Hypothesis 4 predicting a negative effect of the number of medical specialists on the average length of stay was supported with statistical significance. The analysis of dummy variable showed causality in the hospital group of 300-599 beds, when compared to the group of 100-299 beds. Results of this study show that the number of the medical specialists per 100 beds is an important factor in hospital managerial performance. Most hospitals have tried to retain as many medical specialists as possible to keep the number of patients stable, to ensure adequate revenue, and to maintain efficient managerial performance. Especially, the big hospitals with greater number of beds and medical specialists have shown greater revenue per medical specialist despite the smaller number of patients per medical specialist. Findings of this study explains why hospitals in Korea are getting bigger.
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KEYWORD
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medical specialist, managerial performance
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