Fuzzy Numbers: U.S. Hospital Accounting Since the 1930s

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Chapter5byChristyFordChapin.pdf (282.01 KB)

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https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-59423-6_1

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https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59423-6_1
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/35804

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https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2822-1515

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2024-06-15

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book chapters
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Chapin, Christy Ford. “Fuzzy Numbers: U.S. Hospital Accounting Since the 1930s.” In Business History of Hospitals in the 20th Century: Entrepreneurship, Organization, and Finances, edited by Paloma Fernández Pérez, 3–14. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59423-6_1.

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Abstract

This chapter argues that U.S. hospitals have used accounting in a distinctive, paradoxical manner to secure generous reimbursements and favorable regulatory terms from third-party financiers, both public and private. By presenting inexact, unreliable cost calculations as “objective” accounting products, hospital leaders could more readily inflate treatment prices, charge patients widely divergent rates, and conceal internal operations from third-party payers seeking data to design efficacious cost containment methods.