The effectiveness of community-based hospital planning: some recent evidence

The effectiveness of centralized or community-based local planning of hospital resources is still a subject for debate in most countries. The general problem of overcapitilization on beds and equipment has been reviewed in a number of theoretical (Granfield, 1975; Dahlberg 1976) and empirical studies (Cullis et al., 1980; Feldstein, 1967). Hospital planners frequently argue that the resulting direct benefits exceed the costs. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of community-based hospital planning on controlling growth in the supply of beds and plant assets in the United States.