| Uncompensated health cost affects hospitals all over the United States. In South Florida, many facilities struggle to obtain compensation for services rendered. This study examined the influence of the region's unique demographic on the high incidence of uncompensated care in this region. The variables age, gender, education, household income, employment status, foreign-born, and uninsured were examined for their role in uncompensated health cost in the region. Pearson's correlation coefficient was applied to all variables included in the study; from these results, gender and employment status were found to be not significant. The variables age, education, household income, foreign-born, and uninsured were found to be significant contributors to bad debt in South Florida. The strongest correlation was found between uninsured and bad debt. The findings of the study spawned the Barnett-O'Meally health-care bad debt reduction matrix, which provides health-care administrators with a management tool to control the problem of bad debt instigated by lack of insurance. |
