Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Mailbox 37, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
Harvard Center for Health Decision Science, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Health Care Manag Sci. 2022 Jun;25(2):187-190. doi: 10.1007/s10729-022-09591-7. Epub 2022 Mar 16.
A substantial number of United States (U.S.) hospitals have closed in recent years. The trend of closures has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals have experienced financial hardship from reduced patient volume and elective surgery cases, as well as the thin financial margins for treating patients with COVID-19. This trend of hospital closures is concerning for patients, healthcare providers, and policymakers. In this current opinion piece, we first describe the challenges caused by hospital closures and discuss what policymakers should know based on the existing research. We then discuss unique opportunities for researchers to inform policymakers by conducting careful studies that can shed light on different implications, trade-offs, and consequences of various strategies that can be followed.
近年来，大量美国（U.S.）医院关闭。随着医院因患者数量和择期手术减少以及治疗 COVID-19 患者的微薄财务利润而遭受财务困难，这一关闭趋势在 COVID-19 大流行期间加速。医院关闭的趋势令患者、医疗保健提供者和政策制定者感到担忧。在这篇当前的观点文章中，我们首先描述了医院关闭带来的挑战，并根据现有研究讨论了政策制定者应该了解的内容。然后，我们讨论了研究人员通过进行可以阐明各种策略的不同含义、权衡取舍和后果的仔细研究，为政策制定者提供信息的独特机会。
