Do long time members of a community have different healthcare needs and practices than those who have lived in the community for a brief time? To explore this question, a new demographic was added to the 2005/06 NRC Healthcare Market Guide: Years Lived in Community. Respondents were asked to indicate how long they have lived in their community using the following response categories: less than one year, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, 3-5 years, 5-9 years, or 10 or more years.

On a national level, according to the 2005/06 NRC Healthcare Market Guide, 57.5% of respondents have lived in their community for ten or more years; while 5.8% have lived in their communities for less than one.

Some interesting observations (based on the National market) include that the longer a person has lived in a community.

• It is more important that a hospital is conveniently located.
• The more likely they are to prefer hospital facilities for outpatient services.
• The more likely he or she is to utilize healthcare services in general.
• Hospital advertising is less likely to influence their decision to use a facility.

Healthcare utilization between short and long term residents of a community varies as much as 18%, depending the type of service utilized.