Table 1.

Prevalence of Multihospital System Membership, by Hospital Size

Bed Size	System Type	1985	1990	1994	1998
Under 250	Urban w/local big partner	4.4	4.1	7.1	11.3
	Rural w/local big partner	5.1	3.8	5.5	7.2
	Other system	38.9	42.6	39.6	43.0
	Total: Any system	48.3%	50.4%	52.1%	61.5%
Over 250	Local partner	28.9	32.4	41.6	63.8
	Other system	16.5	16.5	13.5	9.9
	Total: Any system	45.4%	48.8%	55.1%	73.6%
All	Any system	47.8%	50.2%	52.5%	62.8%
	Urban hospitals <250 beds	1,703	1,717	1,690	1,568
	Rural hospitals <250 beds	1,462	1,338	1,296	1,268
	All hospitals <250 beds	3,165	3,055	2,986	2,836
	All hospitals ≥250 beds	689	559	452	345
	All hospitals	3,854	3,614	3,438	3,181