Does Geographic Location Affect the Quality of Care? The Difference in Readmission Rates Between the Border and Non-Border Hospitals in Texas.

The results suggest that improving RN staffing levels can be the most feasible action to lower the readmission rates among border Texas hospitals. Decreasing readmission rates by increasing RN staffing levels would also help them avoid reimbursement reduction under the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) and enhance overall health in Texas border communities. Further, to improve border health in Texas, decision-makers in state and local governments must consider incentivizing border hospitals to improve RN staffing levels and modulating the market factors affecting hospital readmission rates that are mostly beyond the control of hospitals.