Search

Context: Catholic hospitals represent a large and growing segment of U.S. health care. Because these facilities follow doctrines that restrict reproductive health services, including miscarriage management options when a fetal heartbeat is present, it is critical to understand whether and how women would want to learn about miscarriage treatment restrictions from providers., Methods: From May 2018 to January 2019, semistructured interviews were conducted with 31 women aged 21-44 who had had exposure to religious-based health care; all were drawn from a nationally representative survey sample. Participants responded to a hypothetical scenario regarding the anticipatory disclosure of miscarriage management policy during routine prenatal care. Responses were inductively coded and thematically analyzed using modified grounded theory to understand women's attitudes and considerations related to receiving anticipatory miscarriage management information., Results: Respondents supported the routine disclosure of miscarriage management policies during prenatal care. Some expressed concern that this might increase patient anxiety during pregnancy, but most felt that the information would serve to prepare and empower patients, and likened the topic to other anticipatory health information provided during prenatal care. Identified themes related to how providers can disclose this information (including the need for a precautionary framing to reduce patient stress), sharing the rationale for institutional policy, and the importance of provider neutrality to ensure patient autonomy., Conclusions: To respect patient autonomy, health care providers working in Catholic hospitals should routinely discuss institutional miscarriage management policies with patients, and anticipatory counseling should give patients the balanced information they need to decide where to go for care should pregnancy complications arise., (Copyright © 2020 by the Guttmacher Institute.)

Importance: Access to reproductive health services is a public health goal. It is unknown how geographic and health plan network availability of Catholic and non-Catholic hospitals may be associated with access to reproductive health services in the United States., Objective: To characterize the market share of Catholic hospitals in the United States, both overall and within Marketplace health insurance plans' hospital networks., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study of US counties used data on hospitals' Catholic affiliation and discharges, hospital networks in Marketplace health insurance plans, and US Census population data to construct a national, county-level data set. The Catholic hospital market share overall in each county and in Marketplace plans' hospital networks in each county were calculated. The study examined whether the Catholic hospital market share was different within Marketplace networks compared with the counties they served. Data analysis was conducted in May and June 2018., Main Outcomes and Measures: The overall Catholic hospital market share was calculated on the basis of the share of discharges in Catholic hospitals in a county compared with all hospital discharges. Overall market share was categorized as minimal (≤2%), low (>2% to ≤20%), high (>20% to ≤70%), or dominant (>70%). The Catholic hospital market share in Marketplace networks was calculated as the share of Catholic hospital discharges in each Marketplace network., Results: The sample included 4450 hospitals in 3101 counties. Overall, 26.1% of US counties had minimal Catholic hospital market share, 38.6% had low Catholic hospital market share, and 35.3% had high or dominant Catholic hospital market share; 38.7% of US reproductive-aged women resided in counties with high or dominant Catholic hospital market share. Among counties with Catholic hospital market share greater than 2%, the distribution of the median Marketplace network's Catholic hospital market share (median [interquartile range], 4.6% [0%-24.3%]) was lower than overall Catholic hospital market share (median [interquartile range], 18.5% [8.1%-36.5%]). The median Marketplace hospital network had a lower Catholic hospital market share than the county overall in 68.0% of US counties with Catholic hospital market share greater than 2%., Conclusions and Relevance: In this national study, 35.3% of counties had high or dominant Catholic hospital market share serving an estimated 38.7% of US women of reproductive age. Marketplace health insurance plans' hospital networks included a lower share of Catholic hospitals than the counties they serve.

Objectives: To identify religious affiliations of hospitals and access to family planning (FP) care available to publicly insured women in Cook County, Illinois., Design: We analyzed Illinois public insurance enrollment data and family planning service claims (2015-2018) for women 18-45., Results: Eighty-five percent of Black/Hispanic women were enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans with a higher percentage of Catholic healthcare than Cook County as a whole compared to 75% of White women (p<0.0001). There were fewer FP services at Catholic (IRR 0.072, 95% CI 0.068-0.076) and Christian non-Catholic (IRR 0.55, 95% CI 0.53-0.56) compared to non-religious hospitals., Conclusions: Medicaid managed care plans may restrict family planning care by limiting patients to religious hospitals., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The health system in many parts of Nigeria has been dysfunctional in several domains including financing, human resources, infrastructure, health management information system and hospital services. In an attempt to scale up Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services and ensure efficiency, Ebonyi State Government in Southeast Nigeria provided funding to mission hospitals across the State as a grant. This study used nonparametric method to assess the effect of this public financing on the efficiency of the mission hospitals. Operational cost and number of hospital beds were used as the input variables, while antenatal registrations, number of immunization doses and hospital deliveries were the output variables. The hospitals were disaggregated into 15 hospital-years. The mean overall technical efficiency of the mission hospitals was 84.05 22.45%. The mean pure technical efficiency was 95.56±6.9% and the scale efficiency was 88.05±22.20%. About 46.67% of all the hospital-years were technically and scale efficient. Although, 55.33% were generally inefficient, only 33.33% of hospital-years exhibited pure technical inefficiency. Low immunization coverage was the major cause of inefficiency. The study showed increased maternal health service output as result of public funding or intervention; however, the mission hospitals could have saved 16% of input resources if they had performed efficiently. It also shows that data envelopment analysis can be used in setting targets/benchmarks for relatively inefficient health facilities, and in monitoring impact of interventions on efficiency of hospitals over-time.

Context: Catholic hospitals operate under directives that prohibit the provision of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion. Little research has examined women's awareness of these institutions' policies, which affects their ability to make informed decisions about where to seek care., Methods: In 2016, some 1,430 women aged 18-45 were recruited from a U.S. probability-based research panel for a survey about hospital care. Respondents were randomized to a hypothetical Catholic or nonreligious hospital group and asked about their expectations for receiving nine specific reproductive services. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between participants' characteristics and their correctly identifying a hospital as Catholic, as well as between characteristics and expecting that birth control pills, tubal ligation or abortion for serious fetal indications would be provided there., Results: Women randomized to the Catholic hospital group were less likely than those randomized to the nonreligious group to expect provision of birth control pills (77% vs. 86%), tubal ligation (70% vs. 78%) or abortion for serious fetal indications (42% vs. 54%). Income level was associated with correctly identifying the Catholic hospital: Compared with individuals with the lowest income, those in three of the four other income groups were more likely to identify the hospital as Catholic (odds ratios, 1.9-2.2). In comparison with women who misidentified the Catholic hospital, those who identified it as Catholic had lower expectations that the hospital would provide birth control pills (0.3), tubal ligation (0.5) or abortion (0.2)., Conclusions: Many women do not realize the breadth of restrictions on reproductive health care at Catholic hospitals. Without institutional transparency, patient autonomy and health outcomes may be compromised., (Copyright © 2019 by the Guttmacher Institute.)

We aimed to investigate Catholic Identity and Mission communication specifically how nurses were expressing the Catholic healthcare values in practice. A mixed-methods, case study design was used and included non-participant observation, a mid-level manager focus group (n = 7) and online surveys (n = 144). Document and observational data analysis revealed the organisation's commitment to visible indication of Catholic values adherence. Focus group analysis revealed two themes, 'Catholic values in action' and 'taking the extra step'. The impact of Catholic Identity and Mission on nurses and nursing care recipients remains elusive and warrants further understanding.

The Deaconess Hospital, Edinburgh, opened in 1894 and was the first establishment of its kind in the UK, maintained and wholly funded as it was by the Reformed Church. Through its 96-year lifetime it changed and evolved to time and circumstance. It was a school: for the training of nurses and deaconesses who took their practical skills all over the world. It was a sanctum: for the sick-poor before the NHS. It was a subsidiary: for the bigger hospitals of Edinburgh after amalgamation into the NHS. It was a specialised centre: as the Urology Department in Edinburgh and the Scottish Lithotripter centre. And now it is currently student accommodation. There is no single source to account for its history. Through the use of original material made available by the Lothian Health Services Archives - including Church of Scotland publications, patient records, a doctor's casebook and annual reports - we review its conception, purpose, development and running; its fate on joining the NHS, its identity in the latter years and finally its closure.

Context: Catholic Church directives restrict family planning service provision at Catholic health care institutions. It is unclear whether obstetrics and gynecology clinics that are owned by or have business affiliations with Catholic hospitals offer family planning appointments., Methods: Mystery callers phoned 144 clinics nationwide that were found on Catholic hospital websites between December 2014 and February 2016, and requested appointments for birth control generally, copper IUD services specifically, tubal ligation and abortion. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests assessed potential correlates of appointment availability, and multivariable logistic regressions were computed if bivariate testing suggested multiple correlates., Results: Although 95% of clinics would schedule birth control appointments, smaller proportions would schedule appointments for copper IUDs (68%) or tubal ligation (58%); only 2% would schedule an abortion. Smaller proportions of Catholic-owned than of Catholic-affiliated clinics would schedule appointments for birth control (84% vs. 100%), copper IUDs (4% vs. 97%) and tubal ligation (29% vs. 72%); for birth control and copper IUD services, no other clinic characteristics were related to appointment availability. Multivariable analysis confirmed that tubal ligation appointments were less likely to be offered at Catholic-owned than at Catholic-affiliated clinics (odds ratio. 0.1); location and association with one of the top 10 Catholic health care systems also were significant., Conclusions: Adherence to church directives is inconsistent at Catholic-associated clinics. Women visiting such clinics who want highly effective methods may need to rely on less effective methods or delay method uptake while seeking services elsewhere., (Copyright © 2017 by the Guttmacher Institute.)

Life in the church changes and evolves. So do the ministries of the church, for the church’s works must remain relevant as the times change and evolve. Thus the relationship between the church and the Catholic health care ministry has been adapting to a modern era in which founding congregations gradually relinquish control of the entities they created.

Religious sponsors have led every step of the way in the Catholic Health Association’s community benefit work. Since the Ursuline Sisters’ 1727 arrival in New Orleans, women religious have modeled community health improvement by looking around, seeing what needed to be done and finding ways and means to improve the lives of poor and vulnerable people.

They’re all over the place today — Star Wars characters, superheroes, pirates, Minnie Mouse, witches, Minions from “Despicable Me” and, of course, nurses dressed as they usually are in your health care institutions, in white fishnet and 6-inch heels!

Spirituality” names an important domain of human experience that has contours influenced by varied religious traditions, but it is not always tied to any religious tradition in particular. It is influenced by the vast array of individual experiences of inner life, especially as transformed by the transcendent.¹ These individual expressions sometimes become part of religious traditions, spiritual classics handed on from generation to generation.²

Since 1727, when the Ursuline Sisters came to the United States, Catholic health care in the U.S. has sought to be a courageous and faithful reader of the signs of the times. It has tried to be attentive to the ongoing newness of God’s desire in responding to the health needs of people.

Enthusiastic statements like these stunned me when, years ago, I began leading formation groups. The goal was to help leaders pass on the Catholic health care tradition, not change their lives. Yet many participants said that’s what was happening. Today I have come to expect that although most formation participants will say the program improved their leadership, some also will say it was life-changing.¹

We often don’t see the extent of life-transforming changes, and the circumstances and decisions that led to them, until we look back. That’s because in the midst of such a transformation, we are busy taking the next step, and then, based on reflection and evaluation, the step after that. We are deeply involved in being present to the moment, knowing we are being led by something much greater than ourselves and trusting that movement. For 18 years, the Franciscan Sisters of Mary (FSM) have been in such a process. They still are deeply immersed in the next steps.

In 1999, the Sisters of the Holy Cross and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas came together, assessed the past, examined the present and created a new future for Trinity Health. Their goal was to preserve Catholic health care; their mission was to ensure that the human right to health care become a social right as part of a national understanding of promoting and providing for the general welfare. Thanks to the work of those prescient and courageous women religious, Trinity Health now is governed by a “mirror board” — a group of persons who carry canonical and civil responsibilities both as sponsors of Catholic Health Ministries and as directors of Trinity Health’s civil board.

I have a confession to make: I was a mission leader for seven years before I had a good understanding of what sponsorship in Catholic health care is all about. I used to be embarrassed by it, until I discovered that many other senior leaders and middle managers also have no idea what sponsorship is. Many leaders are not able to tell you the names of the individuals who make up their sponsoring board or PJP. And the term PJP — public juridic person — is understood by even fewer leaders within Catholic health care. Unfortunately, for many leaders and front-line associates, sponsorship and the individuals who make up our sponsoring boards are shrouded in mystery. One of the goals of this Health Progress issue is to pull back the curtain and begin to demystify sponsorship. This article will show the relationship and conections between sponsorship, governance and mission integration.

I had not heard the concept of ministerial sponsorship before joining the Catholic Health Initiatives. At first, it struck me as arcane jargon that was relevant only in the niche of Catholic health care.

In response to a challenging financial environment and increasing patient demand, St. Michael's Hospital needed to find long-term sustainable solutions to continue to provide high-quality patient care and invest in key priorities. By conducting Operational Reviews in focused areas, the hospital achieved $7.4 million of in-year savings in the first year, found standardizations, process efficiencies and direct cost savings that positioned itself for success in future funding models. Initiatives were grounded in evidence and relied heavily on the effective execution by the leadership, front-line staff and physicians. As organizations face similar challenges, this journey can provide key learnings.

Context: Catholic hospitals control a growing share of health care in the United States and prohibit many common reproductive services, including ones related to sterilization, contraception, abortion and fertility. Professional ethics guidelines recommend that clinicians who deny patients reproductive services for moral or religious reasons provide a timely referral to prevent patient harm. Referral practices in Catholic hospitals, however, have not been explored., Methods: Twenty-seven obstetrician-gynecologists who were currently working or had worked in Catholic facilities participated in semistructured interviews in 2011-2012. Interviews explored their experiences with and perspectives on referral practices at Catholic hospitals. The sample was religiously and geographically diverse. Referral-related themes were identified in interview transcripts using qualitative analysis., Results: Obstetrician-gynecologists reported a range of practices and attitudes in regard to referrals for prohibited services. In some Catholic hospitals, physicians reported that administrators and ethicists encouraged or tolerated the provision of referrals. In others, hospital authorities actively discouraged referrals, or physicians kept referrals hidden. Patients in need of referrals for abortion were given less support than those seeking referrals for other prohibited services. Physicians received mixed messages when hospital leaders wished to retain services for financial reasons, rather than have staff refer patients elsewhere. Respondents felt referrals were not always sufficient to meet the needs of low-income patients or those with urgent medical conditions., Conclusions: Some Catholic hospitals make it difficult for obstetrician-gynecologists to provide referrals for comprehensive reproductive services., (Copyright © 2016 by the Guttmacher Institute.)

The Tinea hospital in Granada, Spain, was a charitable health facility founded in the 17th century and still treating patients well into the 20th century. The hospital accepted patients from anywhere, not only those residing in the surrounding area. We describe the hospital's founding and the characteristics of the patients and caregivers. We also discuss how tinea was considered at the time, including the typology and treatment protocols applied as well as diet and hygiene measures used. It is striking that a hospital so focused on treating a single disease did not produce studies on the condition or on the application of contemporary knowledge to guide treatment., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and AEDV. All rights reserved.)

Presbyterian Healthcare Services, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the state's only private, not-for-profit integrated healthcare system. It was founded in 1908 as a sanitorium for tuberculosis patients who came to the arid Southwest in search of a cure. Today, Presbyterian is thriving as a twenty-first-century integrated healthcare system, serving one in three New Mexicans in its statewide hospital system; it also includes a 440,000-member health plan and a 700-plus provider medical group. Presbyterian remains dedicated to its singular purpose of improving the health of the patients, members, and communities it serves. Just as Presbyterian has progressed and grown during its 106-year history, its governance system has evolved over time. Presbyterian has always believed that the New Mexico communities it serves deserve not just good governance but great governance and relies on strong structure and processes to lead it to superior outcomes. The ebb and flow of change, our ability to learn from trial and error, and our commitment to success in spite of obstacles make up the story of Presbyterian's strong governance system.

Objective: To understand if women anticipate a difference in reproductive healthcare when attending a Catholic institution., Study Design: A convenience sample of reproductive-aged women in the Denver metro area completed an online survey. Women were randomized to hypothetical women's health clinics at either a secular or Catholic hospital and asked about expectations for family planning care. Questions covered contraception and management of abnormal or unintended pregnancy. We subsequently assessed provider/site preferences for care., Results: We analyzed 236 surveys. The majority of participants expected their gynecologist to provide all family planning services presented. The only difference based on institution was that participants randomized to the Catholic hospital were more likely to expect natural family planning advice. At least half of respondents reported they would seek care from their gynecologist for the services surveyed with the exceptions of emergency contraception and elective abortion., Conclusions: Overall, this cohort of women did not anticipate differences in reproductive healthcare based on institution. If women who enroll at Catholic hospitals do not receive information related to potential healthcare restrictions, their ability to act as informed healthcare consumers may be constrained., Implications: Women did not anticipate differences in reproductive healthcare based on institution type (Catholic vs. secular) and, thus, their ability to act as informed healthcare consumers may be constrained., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Tubal sterilization remains one of the most commonly requested contraceptive methods in the United States. Catholic hospital policy prohibits all sterilizations, but this ban is not uniformly enforced. We conducted this study to assess obstetrician-gynecologists' beliefs and experiences with tubal ligation in Catholic hospitals., Study Design: We interviewed 31 obstetrician-gynecologists geographically dispersed throughout the US who responded to a national survey and agreed to be contacted for a follow-up interview or who were referred by colleagues from the survey sample. Twenty-seven had experienced working in a Catholic hospital. Interviews were open ended and guided by a semistructured instrument. Transcripts were thematically analyzed., Results: Obstetrician-gynecologists disagreed with strict prohibition of sterilizations, especially when denying a tubal ligation placed the patient at increased medical risk. Cesarean delivery in Catholic hospitals raised frustration for obstetrician-gynecologists when the hospital prohibited a simultaneous tubal ligation and, thus, sent the patient for an unnecessary subsequent surgery. Obstetrician-gynecologists described some hospitals allowing tubal ligations in limited circumstances, but these workarounds were vulnerable to changes in enforcement. Some obstetrician-gynecologists reported that Catholic policy posed greater barriers for low-income patients and those with insurance restrictions., Conclusion: Obstetrician-gynecologists working in Catholic hospitals in this study did not share the Church's beliefs on sterilization. Research to understand patients' experiences and knowledge of their sterilization options is warranted in order to promote women's autonomy and minimize risk of harm., Implications Statement: Tubal sterilization, even when medically indicated or in conjunction with cesarean delivery, is severely restricted for women delivering in Catholic hospitals. For women whose only access to hospital care is at a Catholic institution, religious policies can prevent them from receiving a desired sterilization and place them at risk for future undesired pregnancy., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Catholic hospitals play a critical role in the provision of health care in the United States; yet, empirical evidence of patient outcomes in these institutions is practically absent in the literature., Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether patient perceptions of care are more favorable in Catholic hospitals as compared with non-Catholic hospitals in a national sample of hospitals., Methodology: This cross-sectional secondary analysis used linked data from the 2008 American Hospital Association Annual Survey, the 2008 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, the 2008 Medicare Case Mix Index file, and the 2010 Religious Congregations and Membership Study. The study included over 3,400 hospitals nationwide, including 494 Catholic hospitals. Propensity score matching and ordinary least-squares regression models were used to examine the relationship between Catholic affiliation and various HCAHPS measures., Findings: Our findings revealed that patients treated in Catholic hospitals appear to rate their hospital experience similar to patients treated in non-Catholic hospitals. Catholic hospitals maintain a very slight advantage above their non-Catholic peers on five HCAHPS measures related to nurse communication, receipt of discharge information, quietness of the room at night, overall rating, and recommendation of the hospital; yet, these differences were minimal., Practice Implications: If the survival of Catholic health care services is contingent upon how its provision of care is distinct, administrators of Catholic hospitals must show differences more clearly. Given the great importance of Catholic hospitals to the health of millions of patients in the United States, this study provides Catholic hospitals with a set of targeted areas on which to focus improvement efforts, especially in light of current pay-for-performance initiatives.

Background: Nonprofit hospitals (NFPs) are expected to provide community benefits to justify the tax benefits they receive, but recent budgetary constraints have called into question the degree to which the tax benefits are justified. The empirical literature comparing community benefits provided by NFPs and their for-profit counterparts is mixed. However, NFPs are not a homogenous group and can include religious hospitals, community-owned hospitals, or academic medical centers., Purpose: This longitudinal study examines how religious hospitals compare with other NFPs and for-profit hospitals with respect to providing community benefits and how the provision of community benefits by hospitals has changed over time., Methodology: Using a pooled cross-sectional design, we examine two summated scores based on questions from the American Hospital Association annual survey that focus on community orientation among hospitals. We analyze two regressions with year, facility, and market controls to determine how religious hospitals compare with the other groups over time., Findings: Overall, 11% of U.S. hospitals are religious. Religious hospitals were more likely to engage in each individual community benefit activity examined. In addition, the mean values of community benefits provided by religious hospitals, as measured on two summated scores, were significantly higher than those provided by other hospital types in bivariate and regression analyses. Overall, community benefits provided by all hospitals increased over time and then leveled off during the start of the recent economic downturn., Practice Implications: As the debate continues regarding federal tax exemption status, policymakers should consider religious hospitals separately from NFPs. Managers at religious hospitals should consider how their increased levels of community benefits are related to their missions and set benchmarks that recognize and communicate those achievements.