Advisory Committee Chair
Nancy Borkowski
Advisory Committee Members
Nathan Carroll
Ganisher Davlyatov
Stephan O'Connor
Robert Weech-Maldonado
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2023
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) School of Health Professions
Abstract
Hospitals are facing financially challenging times. Each year, billions of dollars are spent by hospitals to provide care to patients that, ultimately, will go unreimbursed. How to effectively provide accessible and affordable health care to the uninsured population continues to be a topic of discussion for policymakers, healthcare administrators, as well as healthcare-based consortiums, and consultant. The cost of charity care consists largely of the care provided to the uninsured population. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) play an important role in providing primary care to the uninsured population, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. Based on the 5 A’s of Access, our study examines the association of availability and accessibility of FQHC delivery sites on hospital’s reported cost of charity care as a percent of operating expenses. Our results indicate a positive association between hospital’s cost of charity care and the number of FQHC delivery sites in the hospital’s zip code and a negative association between the hospital’s cost of charity care and the distance in miles between the hospital’s zip code and the nearest FQHC delivery site’s zip code.
Recommended Citation
Cendoma, Philip, "The Association of Availability and Accessibility of Federally Qualified Health Centers on Hospitals' Reported Charity Care" (2023). All ETDs from UAB. 44.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/44