The relationship of hospital ownership and service composition to hospital charges.

The relationship of hospital ownership and service composition to hospital charges was examined for 456 general acute hospitals in California. Ancillary services had higher profit margins, both gross and net profits, than daily hospital services. Ancillary services accounted for 55.3 percent of total patient revenue. Charges per day were 23 percent higher for ancillary services than for daily hospital services. Net profits for daily and ancillary services were lowest at county hospitals. Proprietary hospitals had the highest net profits for total ancillary services and the highest mean charges. Not-for-profit hospitals had the highest profit margins for daily hospital services. Neither direct nor total costs for ancillary services were significantly different among ownership groups, although direct costs for daily hospital services were significantly higher at proprietary hospitals.