Background Despite mergers have increasingly affected hospitals in the recent decades, literature on the impact of hospitals mergers on healthcare quality measures (HQM) is still lacking. Our research aimed to systematically review evidence regarding the impact of hospital mergers on HQM focusing especially on process indicators and clinical outcomes. Methods The search was carried out until January 2020 using the Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome model, querying electronic databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, Web Of Science) and refining the search with hand search. Studies that assessed HQM of hospitals that have undergone a merger were included. HQMs were analyzed through a narrative synthesis and a strength of the evidence analysis based on the quality of the studies and the consistency of the findings. Results The 16 articles, included in the narrative synthesis, reported inconsistent findings and few statistically significant results. All indicators analyzed showed an insufficient strength of evidence to achieve conclusive results. However, a tendency in the decrease of the number of beds, hospital staff and inpatient admissions and an increase in both mortality and readmission rate for acute myocardial infarction and stroke emerged in our analysis. Conclusions In our study, there is no strong evidence of improvement or worsening of HQM in hospital mergers. Since a limited amount of studies currently exists, additional studies are needed. In the meanwhile, hospital managers involved in mergers should adopt a clear evaluation framework with indicators that help to periodically and systematically assess HQM ascertaining that mergers ensure and primarily do not reduce the quality of care.

Impact of hospital mergers. A systematic review focusing on healthcare quality measures / Mariani, Marco; Sisti, Leuconoe Grazia; Isonne, Claudia; Nardi, Angelo; Mete, Rosario; Ricciardi, Walter; Villari, Paolo; De Vito, Corrado; Damiani, Gianfranco. - In: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH. - ISSN 1101-1262. - 32:2(2022), pp. 191-199. [10.1093/eurpub/ckac002]

Impact of hospital mergers. A systematic review focusing on healthcare quality measures

Isonne, Claudia;Nardi, Angelo;Mete, Rosario;Villari, Paolo;De Vito, Corrado;Damiani, Gianfranco
2022

Abstract

Background Despite mergers have increasingly affected hospitals in the recent decades, literature on the impact of hospitals mergers on healthcare quality measures (HQM) is still lacking. Our research aimed to systematically review evidence regarding the impact of hospital mergers on HQM focusing especially on process indicators and clinical outcomes. Methods The search was carried out until January 2020 using the Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome model, querying electronic databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, Web Of Science) and refining the search with hand search. Studies that assessed HQM of hospitals that have undergone a merger were included. HQMs were analyzed through a narrative synthesis and a strength of the evidence analysis based on the quality of the studies and the consistency of the findings. Results The 16 articles, included in the narrative synthesis, reported inconsistent findings and few statistically significant results. All indicators analyzed showed an insufficient strength of evidence to achieve conclusive results. However, a tendency in the decrease of the number of beds, hospital staff and inpatient admissions and an increase in both mortality and readmission rate for acute myocardial infarction and stroke emerged in our analysis. Conclusions In our study, there is no strong evidence of improvement or worsening of HQM in hospital mergers. Since a limited amount of studies currently exists, additional studies are needed. In the meanwhile, hospital managers involved in mergers should adopt a clear evaluation framework with indicators that help to periodically and systematically assess HQM ascertaining that mergers ensure and primarily do not reduce the quality of care.
2022
health facility merger; hospitalization; hospitals; humans; inpatients; quality of health care
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01g Articolo di rassegna (Review)
Impact of hospital mergers. A systematic review focusing on healthcare quality measures / Mariani, Marco; Sisti, Leuconoe Grazia; Isonne, Claudia; Nardi, Angelo; Mete, Rosario; Ricciardi, Walter; Villari, Paolo; De Vito, Corrado; Damiani, Gianfranco. - In: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH. - ISSN 1101-1262. - 32:2(2022), pp. 191-199. [10.1093/eurpub/ckac002]
File allegati a questo prodotto
File Dimensione Formato  
Mariani_Impact_2022.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione editoriale (versione pubblicata con il layout dell'editore)
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 269.16 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
269.16 kB Adobe PDF

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1675637
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 0
  • Scopus 4
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 5
social impact