TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential effects of distance decay on hospital inpatient visits among subpopulations in Florida, USA
AU - Jia, Peng
AU - Wang, Fahui
AU - Xierali, Imam M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments Peng Jia, Director of the International Initiative on Spatial Lifecourse Epidemiology (ISLE), thanks Lorentz Center, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the West China School of Public Health in Sichuan University for funding the ISLE and supporting ISLE's research activities. We would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments.
Funding Information:
Peng Jia, Director of the International Initiative on Spatial Lifecourse Epidemiology (ISLE), thanks Lorentz Center, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the West China School of Public Health in Sichuan University for funding the ISLE and supporting ISLE's research activities. We would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments.
Funding Information:
Funding information This study was partly supported by the International Strategic Partnerships (Grant No. CvB-UIT-3513\S&B), the China Medical Board (Grant No. 16-262), and the National Institutes of Health (Grant No. R21CA212687).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - Understanding patients’ travel behavior for seeking hospital care is fundamental for understanding healthcare market and planning for resource allocation. However, few studies examined the issue comprehensively across populations by geographical, demographic, and health insurance characteristics. Based on the 2011 State Inpatient Database in Florida, this study modeled patients’ travel patterns for hospital inpatient care across geographic areas (by average affluence, urbanicity) and calendar seasons, and across subpopulations (by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and health insurance status). Overall, travel patterns for all subpopulations were best captured by the log-logistic function. Patients in more affluent areas and rural areas tended to travel longer for hospital inpatient care, so did the younger, whites, and privately insured. Longer travel distances may be a necessity for rural patients to cope with lack of accessibility for local hospital care, but for the other population groups, it may indicate rather better mobility and more healthcare choices. The results can be used in various healthcare analyses such as accessibility assessment, hospital service area delineation, and healthcare resource planning.
AB - Understanding patients’ travel behavior for seeking hospital care is fundamental for understanding healthcare market and planning for resource allocation. However, few studies examined the issue comprehensively across populations by geographical, demographic, and health insurance characteristics. Based on the 2011 State Inpatient Database in Florida, this study modeled patients’ travel patterns for hospital inpatient care across geographic areas (by average affluence, urbanicity) and calendar seasons, and across subpopulations (by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and health insurance status). Overall, travel patterns for all subpopulations were best captured by the log-logistic function. Patients in more affluent areas and rural areas tended to travel longer for hospital inpatient care, so did the younger, whites, and privately insured. Longer travel distances may be a necessity for rural patients to cope with lack of accessibility for local hospital care, but for the other population groups, it may indicate rather better mobility and more healthcare choices. The results can be used in various healthcare analyses such as accessibility assessment, hospital service area delineation, and healthcare resource planning.
KW - Distance decay function
KW - Florida
KW - Hospital inpatient care
KW - Hospital utilization
KW - State Inpatient Database (SID)
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U2 - 10.1007/s10661-019-7468-2
DO - 10.1007/s10661-019-7468-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 31254089
AN - SCOPUS:85068254288
SN - 0167-6369
VL - 191
JO - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
M1 - 381
ER -