Comparing Patient Safety in Rural Hospitals by Bed Count

To determine how patient safety rates, offered services, and patient mix vary by bed count among rural hospitals, a large number of rural hospitals in the United States make up nearly half of all US hospitals.

Abstract

Patient safety is an important national issue. To date, there has been little attention paid to patient safety in rural hospitals, which make up nearly half of all U.S. hospitals. Information is needed to target interventions for improving patient safety. Our objective was to determine how patient safety rates, offered services, and patient mix vary by bed count among rural hospitals.