Safety-net facilities and hospitalization rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2007 Texas Health Care Information Council inpatient data

Purpose Geographic disparities in hospitalization rates for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been observed in Texas. However, little is known about the sources of these variations. The purpose of this manuscript is to further explore the geographic disparity of COPD hospitalization rates in Texas by examining county-level factors affecting access to care.