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Study: Religious hospitals provide better care
Daniel Burke, Religion News Service
August 17, 2010
2 MIN READ TIME

Study: Religious hospitals provide better care

Study: Religious hospitals provide better care
Daniel Burke, Religion News Service
August 17, 2010

Catholic and other

church-run health care systems in the U.S. are more efficient and provide

higher quality care than their secular counterparts, according to a new Thomson

Reuters study.

The study looked at 255

health care systems and found that Catholic and other church-owned systems are

“significantly more likely to provide higher quality care and

efficiency” than both investor-owned and nonprofit health systems.

There was no

statistical difference between Catholic and other church-run health systems,

according to the study, which built on information gleaned from Reuters’ “Top

100 Hospitals” report.

“Our data suggest that

the leadership teams … of health systems owned by churches may be the most

active in aligning quality goals and monitoring achievement across the system,”

the report stated.

The report was short on

specific reasons for religious hospitals’ success, saying that further study

will be required to understand the differences. The performance measures

included mortality rates, the number of medical complications, readmission

rates, lengths of stay, profitability, and other factors.

The Catholic church in

the U.S. runs 624 hospitals and 499 long-term health care facilities, according

to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“When your mission is

rooted in Jesus who healed the sick, only top quality care will do,” said

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the U.S. bishops. “This study confirms

what many take for granted. The church leads in providing quality health care

efficiently.”

Thomson Reuters

provides “information solutions” and data to businesses and executives in the

health care, finance, legal and media industries.