An empirical comparison of rural and urban safety-net hospitals.

This study compares the characteristics of rural hospitals with urban safety-net hospitals and with "other urban hospitals" (non-teaching, non-safety-net urban hospitals that provide mainstream care in the United States). The objective is to examine if there are similarities between rural and urban safety-net hospitals, both of which serve underserved populations. The authors also wish to study if there are areas in which rural and urban safety-net hospitals are closer together compared to "other" urban hospitals. Based on the results, some potential areas of cooperation between rural and urban safety-net hospitals are discussed.