A hospital capital price index

This paper describes the development of a price index for hospital equipment. Based on 10 years of hospital capital acquisition data from a large teaching hospital, equipment acquisitions were categorized and weights derived for each category. Using national producer price indexes for each of these categories, a national hospital equipment index was derived for 1981 to 1991. Forecasts for 1991 and 1992 were then made. The resulting index indicated that price movements of our hospital capital equipment index were very similar to the Implicit Gross Domestic Product Deflator, an index that measures price changes for the nation's Gross Domestic Product. However, because of the relative importance of several categories of equipment (scientific instruments, computers), more widespread data on hospital equipment expenditure patterns would be desirable in order to validate these results.