# Creating an Inclusive Definition for High Users of Inpatient Hospital Systems That Considers Different Levels of Rurality

## TL;DR

This paper proposes a new definition for high hospital users in rural Canada that considers rurality and longitudinal hospitalization patterns.

## Contribution

The study introduces a rural-specific definition of high hospital users based on unplanned hospitalization episodes over time.

## Key findings

- The preferred definition for rural high users is those in the 90th percentile of unplanned hospitalizations over two of three years.
- The approach considers longitudinal experiences and multiple admission types, adapting to rural contexts.
- This definition supports better policy and resource allocation for rural communities.

## Abstract

Multiple definitions have been used to identify individuals who are high system users (HSUs), through economic costs, frequency of use, or length of stay for inpatient care users. However, no definition has been validated to be representative of those residing in rural communities, who face unique service accessibility. This paper identifies an HSU definition for rural Canada that is inclusive of various levels of rurality, longitudinal patient experiences, and types of hospitalizations experienced. This study utilized the 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC) linkage profile to assess hospitalization experiences between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013. A range of common HSU indicators were compared using Cox proportional hazards modelling for multiple periods of assessment and types of admissions. The preferred definition for rural HSUs was individuals who are in the 90th percentile of unplanned hospitalization episodes for 2 of 3 consecutive years. This approach is innovative in that it includes longitudinal hospital experiences and multiple types of hospitalizations and assesses an individual’s rurality as a point of context for analysis, rather than a characteristic. These differences provide an opportunity for community characteristic needs assessment and subsequent adjustments to policy development and resource allocation to meet each rural community’s specific needs.