title: A logit analysis of hospital choice behavior in Chollabukdo Province of Korea.
abstract: This paper analyzes hospital choice behavior of inpatients in Chollabukdo Province of the Republic of Korea. By applying a binary logit model on the disaggregate basis, we examine how individual inpatients select tertiary hospitals with high-level services as opposed to secondary low-level hospitals. From the analysis, we have found significant differences in the hospital choice behavior among the different socioeconomic groups of population. Especially meaningful differences were observed between urban and rural residents. The present policy focusing on the construction of low-level hospitals is thought to be reasonable to cope with the needs of rural residents, whereas increasing demand for high-level services is expected in the urban area.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Socioeconomic Planning, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior; D004522:Educational Status; D006291:Health Policy; D006761:Hospitals / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D016015:Logistic Models; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population