Uma análise espacial da “Lei de Roemer” no sistema hospitalar do Brasil: evidências para internações por condições sensíveis à atenção básica

Abstract

The objective of this study is to verify if the concentration of beds in the municipalities of Brazil is associated to pressures of use of the hospital system, that is to say, to the higher hospitalization rates, as an important relation in the area of public health denominated "Law of Roemer". Methodologically, the work uses a space panel with fixed effects of year and municipality in order to verify the strength of the correlation of the rate of beds offered in the municipality and its immediate neighborhood on the local hospitalizations. The results provide evidence that, in fact, the greater supply of beds is associated with greater use pressures of the hospital system, which can result in a serious problem in the inequality of access to these services by the population of the country.