The Effect of Hospital Organizational Characteristics on Postoperative Complications

Objectives: To determine if there is a relationship between the risk of postoperative complications and the nonclinical hospital characteristics of bed size, ownership structure, relative urbanicity, regional location, teaching status, and area income status. Methods: This study involved a secondary analysis of 2006 administrative hospital data from a number of U.S. states. This data, gathered annually by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) via the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) Healthcare Utilization Project (HCUP), was analyzed using probit regressions to measure the effects of several nonclinical hospital categories on seven diagnostic groupings. The study model included postoperative complications as well as additional potentially confounding variables. Results: The results showed mixed outcomes for each of the hospital characteristic groupings. Subdividing these groupings to correspond with the HCUP data analysis allowed a greater understanding of how hospital characteristics' may affect postoperative outcomes. Conclusions: Nonclinical hospital characteristics do affect the various postoperative complications, but they do so inconsistently.