Quality of Care Before and After Mergers and Acquisitions of Rural Hospitals.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Rural hospitals are increasingly merging with other hospitals. The associations of hospital mergers with quality of care need further investigation.

Objectives

To examine changes in quality of care for patients at rural hospitals that merged compared with those that remained independent.

Design, setting, and participants

In this case-control study, mergers at community nonrehabilitation hospitals in Federal Office of Rural Health Policy-eligible zip codes during 2009 to 2016 in 32 states were identified from Irving Levin Associates and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Outcomes for inpatient stays for select conditions and elective procedures were derived from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases. Difference-i

SUBMITTER: Jiang HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8453322 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature