Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7411, USA.
Med Care Res Rev. 2011 Jun;68(3):332-51. doi: 10.1177/1077558710389050. Epub 2010 Dec 13.
This study assesses whether California's minimum nurse staffing legislation affected the amount of uncompensated care provided by California hospitals. Using data from California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, the American Hospital Association Annual Survey and InterStudy, the authors divide hospitals into quartiles based on preregulation staffing levels. Controlling for other factors, they estimate changes in the growth rate of uncompensated care in the three lowest staffing quartiles relative to the quartile of hospitals with the highest staffing level. The sample includes short-term general hospitals over the period 1999 to 2006. The authors find that growth rates in uncompensated care are lower in the first three staffing quartiles as compared with the highest quartile; however, results are statistically significant only for county and for-profit hospitals in Quartiles 1 and 3. The authors conclude that minimum nurse staffing ratios may lead some hospitals to limit uncompensated care, likely due to increased financial pressure.
这项研究评估了加利福尼亚州的最低护士人员配备法规是否影响了加利福尼亚州医院提供的无偿护理的数量。使用来自加利福尼亚州全州卫生规划和发展办公室、美国医院协会年度调查和 InterStudy 的数据，作者根据监管前人员配备水平将医院分为四分之一。在控制其他因素的情况下，他们估计在最低人员配备四分位数中，与人员配备水平最高的四分位数相比，无偿护理增长率的变化。该样本包括 1999 年至 2006 年期间的短期综合医院。作者发现，与最高四分位数相比，前三个人员配备四分位数中的无偿护理增长率较低；然而，结果仅在第一和第三四分位数的县和营利性医院中具有统计学意义。作者得出结论，最低护士人员配备比例可能会导致一些医院限制无偿护理，这可能是由于财务压力增加所致。
