Not-for-profit hospitals are discussed.

• Position: National Bureau of Economic Research conference

A group of NBER health economists and invited guests met on November 21 and 22 for a conference on not-for-profit hospitals. The conference was divided into five sessions, each of which included two papers; the sessions focused on managed care; the differential treatment of not-for-profit providers; the mission of not-for-profit hospitals; recent conversions from not-for-profit to for-profit status; and the productivity of medical care. NBER Research Associate David M. Cutler of Harvard University, organized this program:

Dr. Sarah Feldman, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and David Scharfstein, NBER and MIT, "Outline of Managed Care, Quality, and Volume"

David Meltzer, NBER and University of Chicago, "Implications of Managed Care for Teaching Hospitals: Comparisons of Traditional and Managed Care Medical Services within a Single Institution"

Discussants: Laurence Baker, NBER and Stanford University, and Alan Weil, The Urban Institute

Tomas Philipson, NBER and University of Chicago, "Perfect Substitution and Organizational Form"

William M. Gentry, NBER and Columbia University, and John Penrod, Montreal General Hospital Research Institute, "The Tax Benefits of Not-for-Profit Hospitals"

Discussants: Judith Hellerstein, NBER and University of Maryland, and William Vogt, Carnegie-Mellon University

Jonathan Skinner, NBER and Dartmouth College, and Jack Wennberg, Dartmouth College, "On the Efficiency of Hospital Care in the Last Six Months of Life: A Tale of Three Cities"

Richard Frank, NBER and Harvard University, and David Salkever, Johns Hopkins University, "Market Forces, Diversification of Activity, and the Mission of Non-Profit Hospitals"

Discussants: Brad Gray, New York Academy of Medicine, and Frank R. Lichtenberg, NBER and Columbia University

Frank Sloan, NBER and Duke University, and Donald H. Taylor, Jr. and Christopher Conover, Duke University, "Hospital Conversions: is the Purchase Price too Low?"

David M. Cutler, and Jill Horwitz, Harvard University, "Converting Hospitals from Not-for-Profit to For-Profit Status: Why and What Effects?"

Discussants: Kathy Kenyon, Deaconess Billings Clinic, and James Rebitzer, Case Western Reserve University

Douglas O. Staiger, NBER and Harvard University, and Mark B. McClellan, NBER and Stanford University, "Comparing Hospital Quality at For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Hospitals"

Susan Athey and Scott Stern, NBER and MIT, "Technology Adoption in Hospitals and in Public Emergency Response Systems: Substitutes or Complements?"

Discussants: Karen Norberg, NBER and Children's Hospital, and Catherine...