Employment trends in hospitals, 1981-1993

This paper examines trends in hospital employment from 1981 to 1993. After controlling for changes in the inpatient and outpatient volume and using a proxy for changes in case mix, the number of hospital employees increased steadily during this period. Most of the growth occurred in the nonclinical areas. There was no statistically significant difference in the employment growth in states with high or low penetration of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), or in states with and without all-payer rate-setting programs, suggesting that neither competitive nor regulatory programs influenced employment trends in the hospital industry.