Comparing methods of grouping hospitals.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To compare the performance of widely used approaches for defining groups of hospitals and a new approach based on network analysis of shared patient volume.

Study setting

Non-federal acute care hospitals in the United States.

Study design

We assessed the measurement properties of four methods of grouping hospitals: hospital referral regions (HRRs), metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), core-based statistical areas (CBSAs), and community detection algorithms (CDAs).

Data extraction methods

We combined data from the 2014 American Hospital Association Annual Survey, the Census Bureau, the Dartmouth Atlas, and Medicare data on interhospital patient travel patterns. We then evaluated the distinctiveness of each grouping, reliability over time, and general

SUBMITTER: Everson J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6736907 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature