Rohrer J E
Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Administration, University of Iowa 52242.
Health Serv Manage Res. 1990 Mar;3(1):41-8. doi: 10.1177/095148489000300105.
Preliminary analysis of hospital utilization data indicates that Roemer's Law may still be operative in rural Iowa: counties with more hospital beds per capita have more hospital utilization per capita. However, when patient origin data are analyzed findings are entirely different. Bed supply is not related to utilization rates in Iowa counties. Instead, the number of unique hospital services is associated with higher utilization rates. The impact of this characteristic of hospital supply, however, is much weaker than the original Roemer effect. The contradiction of these findings with Roemer's Law is apparently a result of a methods effect: use of hospital utilization data which are not derived from actual population experience reveals a relationship which is a statistical artifact. The data also reveal that suburban counties have higher utilization rates than either rural or urban (MSA core) counties.
对医院利用数据的初步分析表明，罗默法则在爱荷华州农村地区可能仍然有效：人均医院病床数较多的县人均医院利用率更高。然而，当分析患者来源数据时，结果却完全不同。病床供应与爱荷华州县的利用率无关。相反，独特医院服务的数量与较高的利用率相关。然而，医院供应的这一特征的影响比最初的罗默效应要弱得多。这些发现与罗默法则的矛盾显然是方法效应的结果：使用并非来自实际人口经验的医院利用数据揭示了一种作为统计假象的关系。数据还显示，郊区县的利用率高于农村或城市（大都市统计区核心）县。
