Higher Spending Linked to Better Hospital Care

"Although paying hospitals less may appear to be a good strategy to save money, the findings reported by Stukel et al. serve as a timely reminder that this approach is likely to have negative consequences for patients," they noted.

So-called "expensive" hospitals are likely spending that money directly on nurses, specialists, and technology – in other words, on care that improves the outcomes of acutely ill patients, Dr. Joynt and Dr. Jha said.

Dr. Joynt and Dr. Jha are in the department of health policy and management at Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Dr. Joynt is also in the cardiovascular division and Dr. Jha is in the division of general internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. They reported no relevant financial conflicts of interest.