Surprise! Teaching Hospitals Cost Less Than Non-Teaching Hospitals

30-day and episode-of-care costs are lower for care provided by major teaching hospitals than they are for other teaching hospitals and non-teaching hospitals.

Or so concludes a new study published by JAMA Open Network.

According to the study:

• Major teaching hospitals’ initial hospitalization costs are higher.
• Major teaching hospital costs are less than other hospitals after 30 days of care and over entire episodes of care.
• Major teaching hospitals’ costs are similar to those of other teaching hospitals and non-teaching hospitals over a 90-day episode of care.
• Major teaching hospitals’ patients incurred lower costs for post-acute care.
• Major teaching hospitals have lower Medicare readmission rates.

Learn more about the study, how it was conducted, and what it found in the JAMA Open Network article “Comparison of Costs of Care for Medicare Patients Hospitalized in Teaching and Nonteaching Hospitals.”