Should hospital funding be linked to socioeconomic status?

Abstract

How does socioeconomic status impacts one's health and their access to healthcare? Using records from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, this Research Insight classifies patients into four socioeconomic groups according to their use of health and human services. The study also measures hospital use and whether socioeconomic status with in-hospital adverse incidents. The author, Associate Professor Jongsay Yong suggests that hospital funding policy should account for patients' socioeconomic differences.