Contingency Theory and the Impact of New Accounting Technology in Uncertain Hospital Environments

The contingency model was used to evaluate the impact of a new accounting technology (Diagnosis‐related Group (DRG) systems in US hospitals on the perceived role and importance of accountants and accounting data, their job performance evaluation and job satisfaction,contingent upon the nature of the hospital. There was a significant difference in the responses of not‐for‐profit and proprietary hospital accountants. Proprietary hospital accountants reported less of an increase in the use of financial data for control than public and for‐profit hospital accountants, probably because centralised financial controls and policies were considered to be more prevalent in the proprietary area than in the not‐for‐profit area prior to DRG. This provides support for contingency theory.