Third-Pary Reimbursement of Therapeutic Recreation Services Within a National Sample of United States Hospitals

Authors

  • Joseph D Teaff
  • Thomas E Van Hyning

Keywords:

Third-Party Reimbursement, Hospitals, Investor-Owned Hospitals, Notfor- Profit Hospitals, Government-Non-Federal Hospitals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of third-party reimbursement for therapeutic recreation services within three types of hospital classifications: Government, nonfederal (GNF); non-government, not-for-profit (NFP);and investor-owned (IO). A sample of 580 hospitals was drawn by the American Hospital Association through a randomly selected, proportionate sample from the universe of 5,799 GNP, NFP, and IO hospitals. Three hundred-twenty hospitals (55.2 percent) returned usable instruments. Based upon the analysis of 33 therapeutic recreation services approved for third-party reimbursement, it was found that: Significantly more therapeutic recreation directors who gave financing a higher priority tended to direct programs whose services were approved for third-party reimbursement; significantly more therapeutic recreation services were successful in their efforts to obtain third-party reimbursement even though they were denied approval in their initial efforts and approaches to obtain third-party reimbursement; and significantly more IO hospitals with therapeutic recreation services were approved for third-party reimbursement than either GNF or NFP therapeutic recreation services.

Published

1988-04-01

Issue

Section

Regular Papers