The diffusion of medical practice patterns in a community hospital

There has been some evidence which suggests that HMOs alter the hospitalization rate of the fee for service medical sector. If true, this spillover effect would have important implications for reducing hospital utilization, because HMO affiliated physicians use substantially less resource intensive in-patient services. This research investigates one possible mechanism, whether there is a diffusion of medical practice patterns from HMO affiliated physicians to non-HMO physicians when both groups share admitting privileges in the same hospital. Intervention analysis was used to test this hypothesis by comparing the time series of in-patient utilization, in a community hospital, before and after the hospital became affiliated with a HMO. The results of this analysis did not substantiate the theorized HMO spillover effect.