Note: data for location of inpatient visit was not collected in 2013.

Table 3 presents the effect of PA on outpatient and inpatient admissions. PA had a significant retention effect on outpatient utilization and also retained inpatient admission to some extent. In 2018, patients with chronic diseases in PA counties were 10% (OR=0.90, 95% CI 0.83-0.98) less likely to use outpatient care than in NPA counties. For comparison, OR for PA was 1.31 (95% CI 1.16-1.47) in 2013, indicating that patients with chronic diseases in PA places were 1.31 times more likely to use outpatient care in 2013. For inpatient admissions, patients in PA counties were more likely to use inpatient care in 2013 (OR=1.22, 95% CI 1.07 - 1.39), and patients in PA and NPA counties did not show differences in inpatient admissions in 2018, although the Chow test showed that the change in PA coefficients was not statistically significant (p=0.052).

Table 3. The effect of pairing assistance on healthcare utilization for rural patients with chronic diseases