Community Health Orientation, Community-based Quality Improvement, and Health Promotion Services in Hospitals

Abstract

The objective of the study presented in this article was to examine the relationship between hospital community orientation and the provision of health promotion services. The study used data from the 2000 American Hospital Association survey and the 2000 Area Resource File to examine acute care hospitals throughout the United States. The study was a cross-sectional multiple regression analysis. Hospital community orientation was measured by two independent variables: (1) community health orientation and (2) community-based quality orientation. Health promotion services were represented by two dependent variables: (1) hospital-based health promotion services and (2) collaborative health promotion services. Organizational control variables included bed-size code, not-for-profit ownership, network participation, and joint venture/alliance membership. Environmental control variables included the proportion of population over age 65, the percentage of population below the poverty level, the square root of the proportion of Medicaid inpatient revenue, the presence of state community benefit laws/guidelines, a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index of level of competition, and an index of managed care influence. Results of regression analyses showed that community health and community-based quality orientations were positively and significantly related to both the direct provision of health promotion services by hospitals and the collaborative provision of health promotion services through systems, joint ventures, and networks. The study concludes that a community health orientation and a community-based quality orientation lead to greater provision of health promotion services.