요양병원의 폐업과 요양병원 조직, 성과, 환경요인 간의 관계에 대한 연구

Abstract

Background: Long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) play a crucial role in providing long-term care to local communities. Studies on the relationship between LTCH closure and a potential source of closure at the national level are limited. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with LTCH closure in Korea. Methods: This study adopted a case-control study design selecting individual LTCH as the unit of analysis. The study included 200 LTCHs that are closed for 3 years from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021, as a case group. The study included 1,320 running LTCH as the control group. Multiple logistic regression was used. Results: This study revealed that various factors were associated with LTCH closure: number of specialized physicians (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.837; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.756–0.927; p =0.001), number of nurses (aOR, 0.977; 95% CI, 0.958–0.997; p =0.02), number of patients measured by the total length of stays at 1 year (aOR, 0.987; 95% CI, 0.979–0.996; p =0.003) and 2 years before closure (aOR, 0.988; 95% CI, 0.979–0.996; p =0.004). No environmental factor was associated with LTCH closure. Conclusion: LTCH closure was significantly associated with internal organizational factors measured by medical staff and the number of patients. Healthcare policymakers and owners of LTCHs should pay attention to these factors when maintaining stable and healthy LTCHs and opening new LTCHs.