Expelled uninsured patients in a less-competitive hospital market in Florida, USA.
BACKGROUND
This research evaluates the effect of hospital competition on inward and outward patient transfers for different types of payers including the uninsured. Although it is a less spotlighted issue, an equally important topic is the likelihood of inter-hospital patient transfers of the insured and the uninsured. This study attempts to fill a gap in the research about the relationship between hospital competition and patient transfers.


METHODS
By developing the payer-specific level of hospital competition, this research evaluates the effect of hospital competition on inward and outward patient sharing (or patient transfers) for different types of payers including the uninsured. For patient transfers, instead of focusing on whether a patient is transferred from one hospital to another hospital at the patient level, we measure the numbers of patient transfers between hospitals (both inward and outward) at the hospital level. These dependent variables-the numbers of outward and inward patient transfers by the principal payers-are count variables, and we employ either a Poisson regression model or a negative binomial regression model.


RESULTS
Controlling for hospital characteristics, when the uninsured Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI) increased by 0.01, the uninsured were 593 % more likely to be transferred to another hospital. When a hospital dominates its market, it tends to expel uninsured patients to other hospitals.


CONCLUSIONS
If patient transfers are medically unnecessary and primarily due to financial incentives, health administrators and policymakers should minimize such events. Since the uninsured who are admitted to a hospital that dominates its hospital market are likely to be much more vulnerable in their access to health care services, the state government of Florida needs to move toward increased health insurance coverage for eligible Floridians.
Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA.
Keon-Hyung
KH
Lee
Public Management and Policy Analysis Program, International University of Japan, Minami Uonuma-shi, Niigata, 949-7277, Japan. seunghoo.lim@gmail.com.
Seunghoo
S
Lim
Department of Regulatory Research, Korea Institute of Public Administration, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, 03367, South Korea.
Jungwon
J
Park
D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Hospital competition; Patient transfers; Uninsured