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Abstract

Although the rural component of the nursing home industry is an $11 billion per year enterprise, very little is known about the unique character and structure of rural nursing homes. Using data from a 1991 national census of nursing homes, this investigation compares facilities (N = 13,081) in nine different county types. Significant variation by geographic location was observed in the availability, size, and character of long-term care facilities. Such differences have important implications for the role rural nursing homes may assume in a health care system that m the future will be dominated by managed care principles and the creation of integrated health care systems that include a wide range of patient care services.

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The Rural Nursing Home Industry: A National Description

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