Comparing the spatial attractiveness of hospitals using zero-inflated spatial models

AbstractPolicy makers increasingly rely on hospital competition to incentivize patients to choose high-value care. Amongst all possible drivers, the travel distance without any doubt is one of the most important. In this paper we propose the use of a spatial Bayesian hierarchical model to assess the impact of distance on the number of patient admissions in hospitals, and thereby, compare hospital attractiveness. To this aim a MCMC sampler has been designed. We apply our methodology to patient admissions for asthma in four hospitals located in the H érault department of France. Results indicate that the most attractive hospital is the CHU Montpellier.
Source: Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology - Category: Statistics Source Type: research