Effects of type of ownership of skilled nursing facilities on residents' mortality rates in Illinois.

The effect of ownership on the quality and cost of care in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) was examined using unadjusted and adjusted mortality rates for such facilities in Illinois for the 1986-87 reporting year. Results indicated that when using unadjusted mortality rates, for-profit facilities had much lower rates than either government-owned or nonprofit SNFs. When mortality rates were adjusted, using available measures of intervening variables, differences by type of ownership disappeared. The higher percentage of discharges to general hospitals exhibited by for-profit facilities, compared with other types of facility ownership, appears to have the strongest effect on SNF mortality rates.