Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Contracting state mental hospital systems

R G Frank, W P Welch

    Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law
    |January 1, 1982
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Closing state mental hospitals causes conflict. Evidence suggests constant returns to scale, meaning shrinking hospitals, not closing them, can maintain economic efficiency and avoid political disputes.

    Related Concept Videos

    You might also read

    Related Articles

    Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

    Sort by
    Same author

    Introduction-Special issue: Functional outcomes in rehabilitation.

    NeuroRehabilitation·2014
    Same author

    Neuropsychological assessment in rehabilitation: Current limitations and applications.

    NeuroRehabilitation·2014
    Same author

    Introduction.

    NeuroRehabilitation·2014
    Same author

    Managed care and rehabilitation: issues related to cognitive rehabilitation.

    NeuroRehabilitation·2014
    Same author

    Management of behavior on a spinal cord injury unit.

    NeuroRehabilitation·2014
    Same author

    Return to work following spinal cord injury.

    NeuroRehabilitation·2014

    Area of Science:

    • Health economics
    • Public policy analysis
    • Mental healthcare systems

    Background:

    • State mental hospital systems often undergo contraction through hospital closures.
    • Hospital closures can lead to significant political and social conflict with workers and communities.
    • Policy decisions regarding hospital contraction are frequently based on assumptions about economies of scale.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To evaluate the economic efficiency of state mental hospital contraction strategies.
    • To examine the relationship between hospital size and economic efficiency (returns to scale).
    • To propose alternative contraction methods that mitigate political conflict.

    Main Methods:

    • Analysis of empirical evidence on returns to scale in mental hospitals.

    Related Experiment Videos

  • Economic modeling to assess efficiency under different scale assumptions.
  • Comparative analysis of hospital closure versus hospital shrinking policies.

    • Main Results:

    • The predominant assumption of increasing returns to scale in mental hospitals is not supported by empirical evidence.
    • The bulk of evidence indicates that mental hospitals exhibit constant returns to scale.
    • Shrinking existing mental hospitals can be achieved without a loss in economic efficiency.

    Conclusions:

    • The policy of closing state mental hospitals may be based on flawed economic assumptions.
    • Constant returns to scale suggest that shrinking hospitals is a viable alternative to closure.
    • Adopting a strategy of shrinking hospitals can reduce political conflict while maintaining economic efficiency.