—MJ Condon (Mentor: Esmaeil Bahalkeh)
When I enrolled in UNH as an analytical economics major, I had no idea what economics was, what I could do with an economics degree, or if this degree was for me. Participating in undergraduate research through the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research allowed me to investigate how my passions with data analytics, economics, and helping others intersect. I discovered through my fellowship the power of economics, and a passion for my major.
This research aimed to investigate whether a relationship exists between quality of care and ownership of nursing homes in the state of New Hampshire. I had the opportunity to employ data analytics to understand the New Hampshire nursing home market, while gaining experience of collecting and analyzing real world data.
This article walks through the process of collecting, cleaning, and processing data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and begins an investigation into the seventy-three nursing homes in the state of New Hampshire. Preliminary analysis of quality-of-care ratings between for-profit and non-profit/government-owned nursing facilities did not determine a significant difference. However, this research builds the framework for further research within New Hampshire nursing homes, detailing the current state of the New Hampshire nursing home market.
