Matthew Castel, assistant professor of supply chain management, and Timothy Dunne, associate professor of management, published their paper “Hospital service focus vs. breadth: Impact on hospital outcomes and the moderating role of hospital size” in Health Care Management Science, according to a Mar. 13 announcement.
The study examines how hospitals in the United States can improve performance by lowering costs while increasing patient satisfaction. The research is relevant as hospitals face ongoing pressure to deliver high-quality care efficiently.
Castel and Dunne analyze two common strategies used by hospitals: specialization in a smaller number of services to boost efficiency, and expanding the range of services so patients can access more types of care at one location. They suggest that these approaches do not have to be mutually exclusive. “Hospitals may benefit from doing both — expanding services while also developing strong expertise in certain areas,” they said.
Their findings indicate that specialization generally leads to higher patient satisfaction and lower costs, though the improvement in satisfaction is less pronounced for larger hospitals. Conversely, offering a broader range of services helps reduce costs but may slightly decrease patient satisfaction; this effect is less significant in large hospitals.
The authors conclude that hospitals do not need to choose between focusing on one area or offering many services. Instead, they can improve performance by balancing specialization with service breadth.
