Hospitals that spend more to treat patients don't necessarily have the best quality of care, researchers say.

In a study that analyzed national data on discharged Medicare patients who'd been hospitalized for congestive heart failure or pneumonia in 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, found wide variation in the costs of care.

The average cost of care for a typical patient with congestive heart failure was $7,114, but ranged from $1,522 to $18,927 among 3,146 hospitals. The average cost of care for a typical patient with pneumonia was $7,040, but ranged from $1,897 to $15,829 among 3,152 hospitals, according to the study findings published in the Feb. 22 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

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