UROP Project

Health Management; Medicaid and Medicare & Market competition & Hospital financial sustainability

Hospital management, Market competition, Medicaid, Medicare, Hospital financial sustainability

Research Mentor: Hyunji Christine Kim, She
Department, College, Affiliation: Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: hk22a@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Public health, Public policy, Public administration, Business, Other relevant social science
Project Location: Zoom and email
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 6 hours per week, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

This study examines whether hospitals can financially benefit from a greater reliance on public insurance programs, specifically Medicaid and Medicare, by analyzing how the relationship between the proportion of Medicaid/Medicare reimbursement and hospital financial sustainability varies under different structural conditions. The independent variable is the Medicaid/Medicare payer mix, measured as the percentage of total revenue or discharges from these public insurers, and the dependent variable is hospital financial sustainability, captured through metrics such as operating margin, net income, or days cash on hand. Two key contextual moderators are considered: market competition, assessed using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), and geographic location, categorized as urban or rural. The first hypothesis (H1) examines whether a higher Medicaid/Medicare payer mix is positively associated with hospital financial sustainability. Building on this, H2a proposes that this positive association is stronger in markets with lower competition, while H2b suggests the relationship is more favorable for hospitals located in rural areas. By testing these interactions through a moderated regression model, the study challenges the prevailing view that public payer reliance undermines financial health and instead argues that, under the right structural conditions, hospitals can strategically benefit from serving more publicly insured patients—providing important insights for health system leaders and policymakers seeking sustainable and equitable healthcare delivery models.

Research Tasks: literature review, data collection, and sorting and organizing the literature

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Basic idea about literature review and understanding of APA reference style required
No other specific skills required but punctuality and respect, if we can call these skills as well