The hypothesis that competitive pressures encourage hospitals to accommodate patient and
physician preferences for longer lengths of stay was tested. Seven hundred forty-seven
nonfederal short-term hospitals were divided in terms of the number of neighboring hospitals
within a 24-km radius, and this measure of hospital concentration and competition was
measured against length of stay for ten surgical procedures, using 1982 data on 498454
patient discharges. Patient, physician, and hospital characteristics associated with length of …