Journal article
Nursing home closures and access to post‐acute care and long‐term care services in rural areas
The Journal of rural health, Vol.40(3), pp.557-564
Summer 2024
DOI: 10.1111/jrh.12822
PMID: 38225679
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Purpose Nursing home closures have raised concerns about access to post‐acute care (PAC) and long‐term care (LTC) services. We estimate the additional distance rural residents had to travel to access PAC and LTC services because of nursing home closures. Methods We identify nursing home closures and the availability of PAC and LTC services in nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospitals with swing beds using the Medicare Provider of Services file (2008–2018). Using distances between ZIP codes, we summarize distances to the closest provider of PAC and LTC services for rural and urban ZIP codes with nursing home closures from 2008 to 2018 and no nursing homes in 2018. Findings Compared to urban ZIP codes, rural ZIP codes experiencing nursing home closure had higher distances to the closest nursing home providing PAC (6.4 vs. 0.94 miles; p < 0.05) and LTC services (7.2 vs. 1.1 miles; p < 0.05), and these differences remain even after accounting for the availability of home health agencies and hospitals with swing beds. Distances to the closest providers with PAC and LTC services were even higher for rural ZIP codes with no nursing homes in 2018. About 6.1%–15.7% of rural ZIP codes with a nursing home closure or with no nursing homes had no PAC or LTC providers within 25 miles. Conclusions Nursing home closures increased distances to nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospitals with swing beds for rural residents. Access to PAC and LTC services is a concern, especially for rural areas with no nursing homes.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Nursing home closures and access to post‐acute care and long‐term care services in rural areas
- Creators
- Hari Sharma - University of IowaRedwan Bin Abdul Baten - University of North Carolina at CharlotteFred Ullrich - Department of Health Management and Policy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USAA. Clint MacKinney - Department of Health Management and Policy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USAKeith J. Mueller - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of rural health, Vol.40(3), pp.557-564
- DOI
- 10.1111/jrh.12822
- PMID
- 38225679
- NLM abbreviation
- J Rural Health
- ISSN
- 0890-765X
- eISSN
- 1748-0361
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Grant note
- Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Health Resources and Services Administration U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Grant Number: #U1CRH20419
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 01/15/2024
- Date published season
- Summer 2024
- Date published
- 2024
- Academic Unit
- Health Management and Policy; Public Policy Center (Archive)
- Record Identifier
- 9984548410702771
Metrics
35 Record Views