When should a multicampus hospital be considered a single entity for public reporting on patient safety issues?

Attempts to provide information to consumers about patient safety on specific hospitals have conflicted with organization self-perceptions and led to confusion among the general public. This article presents organizational theory framework and criteria to classify organizations as single versus multiple reporting entities.

Operational definitions are presented. A case study comparing institutions both within and across state boundaries in the Mayo Clinic Health System is used to demonstrate their utility. The study includes analysis of an employee survey on employee satisfaction and patient safety climate in 2004 among nurses and physicians at the 2 Mayo Clinic hospitals in Rochester, Minn.

The criteria for a single organization are more strongly supported for the Mayo Clinic hospitals located in the same city than for hospitals in the same system but separated geographically. Although there is debate about the measurement of organizational culture, employee surveys provide some evidence of a commonality across hospitals in the same city. The case study comparing institutions both within and across state boundaries in the Mayo Clinic Health System demonstrate the utility of the proposed criteria.