Administrative complement and managerial efficiency in South Carolina hospitals.

This article examines the infrastructure and efficiency of administrative personnel employed by hospitals in South Carolina. The analysis suggests that variation in the administrative complement and the efficiency of hospital administrators is related to the scale of operations and related organizational complexity, the occupancy rate, ownership, and affiliation with multihospital systems. The results of the study also indicate that the administrative complement should be regarded as a resource that results in a discretionary rather than a committed cost and might be altered to increase productivity and improve profitability.