Exploring COVID-19 census burdens by US hospital characteristics: Implications of quality reporting at rural and critical access hospitals.
Ugochukwu C UgwuowoSarah K MeierPablo Moreno FrancoKatherine H NoeSean C DowdyBenjamin D PollockPublished in: The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association (2024)
US hospitals experienced similar COVID-19 census burdens across multiple institutional characteristics. Evidence-based inclusion of pandemic-era outcomes in hospital quality reporting may not require significant hospital-level risk-adjustment or stratification, with the exception of rural or critical access hospitals, which experienced differentially greater COVID-19 census burdens and may merit hospital-level risk-adjustment considerations.