Statistical analysis of rural hospital closures in the USA Online publication date: Mon, 10-Jan-2022
by Michel Kissi; Jonathan D. Walston; M. Affan Badar
International Journal of Forensic Engineering and Management (IJFEM), Vol. 1, No. 2, 2021
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 exposed numerous issues around healthcare availability. Data was collected for 151 rural hospital closures from 2005 to current. From the year of establishment (i.e., open year) until the closure was considered as time to failure (TTF). This research explored if factors like rural-urban commuting area (RUCA), number of beds, open year, and Medicare payment type affect TTF of rural hospitals. Medicare payment was a categorical variable, and the other three variables were continuous. The hypothesis was tested using multiple regression. The results showed that there were no significant correlations of rural hospital TTF with RUCA, number of beds, or Medicare payment type. However, open year was found to be significant. The mean open year was determined to be the year 1966 and the mean TTF was 48 years. Reasons for the hospital closures are discussed. The study is useful for hospital managers and policy makers.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Forensic Engineering and Management (IJFEM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook