Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes Most
Background Transparency in quality of care is an increasingly important issue in healthcare. In many international healthcare systems, transparency in quality is crucial for health insurers when purchasing care on behalf of their consumers, for providers to improve the quality of care (if necessary...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Kerman University of Medical Sciences
2018-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ijhpm.com/article_3535_79a2970ed771086bd1baba6744c61801.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819152385847590912 |
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| author | Suzanne Ruwaard Rudy C M H Douven |
| author_facet | Suzanne Ruwaard Rudy C M H Douven |
| author_sort | Suzanne Ruwaard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background
Transparency in quality of care is an increasingly important issue in healthcare. In many international healthcare systems, transparency in quality is crucial for health insurers when purchasing care on behalf of their consumers, for providers to improve the quality of care (if necessary), and for consumers to choose their provider in case treatment is needed. Conscious consumer choices incentivize healthcare providers to deliver better quality of care. This paper studies the impact of quality on patient volume and hospital choice, and more specifically whether high quality providers are able to attract more patients.
Methods
The dataset covers the period 2006-2011 and includes all patients who underwent a cataract treatment in the Netherlands. We first estimate the impact of quality on volume using a simple ordinary least squares (OLS), second we use a mixed logit to determine how patients make trade-offs between quality, distance and waiting time in provider choice.
Results
At the aggregate-level we find that, a one-point quality increase, on a scale of one to a hundred, raises patient volume for the average hospital by 2-4 percent. This effect is mainly driven by the hospital with the highest quality score: the effect halves after excluding this hospital from the dataset. Also at the individual-level, all else being equal, patients have a stronger preference for the hospital with the highest quality score, and appear indifferent between the remaining hospitals.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that the top performing hospital is able to attract significantly more patients than the remaining hospitals. We find some evidence that a small share of consumers may respond to quality differences, thereby contributing to incentives for providers to invest in quality and for insurers to take quality into account in the purchasing strategy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:48:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-42981cb9870e4e83932d6047566bf972 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2322-5939 2322-5939 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:48:27Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | Kerman University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-42981cb9870e4e83932d6047566bf9722022-12-21T18:22:22ZengKerman University of Medical SciencesInternational Journal of Health Policy and Management2322-59392322-59392018-12-0171211201129Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes MostSuzanne Ruwaard0Rudy C M H Douven1Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), Den Haag, The NetherlandsNetherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), Den Haag, The NetherlandsBackground Transparency in quality of care is an increasingly important issue in healthcare. In many international healthcare systems, transparency in quality is crucial for health insurers when purchasing care on behalf of their consumers, for providers to improve the quality of care (if necessary), and for consumers to choose their provider in case treatment is needed. Conscious consumer choices incentivize healthcare providers to deliver better quality of care. This paper studies the impact of quality on patient volume and hospital choice, and more specifically whether high quality providers are able to attract more patients. Methods The dataset covers the period 2006-2011 and includes all patients who underwent a cataract treatment in the Netherlands. We first estimate the impact of quality on volume using a simple ordinary least squares (OLS), second we use a mixed logit to determine how patients make trade-offs between quality, distance and waiting time in provider choice. Results At the aggregate-level we find that, a one-point quality increase, on a scale of one to a hundred, raises patient volume for the average hospital by 2-4 percent. This effect is mainly driven by the hospital with the highest quality score: the effect halves after excluding this hospital from the dataset. Also at the individual-level, all else being equal, patients have a stronger preference for the hospital with the highest quality score, and appear indifferent between the remaining hospitals. Conclusion Our results suggest that the top performing hospital is able to attract significantly more patients than the remaining hospitals. We find some evidence that a small share of consumers may respond to quality differences, thereby contributing to incentives for providers to invest in quality and for insurers to take quality into account in the purchasing strategy.http://www.ijhpm.com/article_3535_79a2970ed771086bd1baba6744c61801.pdfhospital demandpatient choicequality indicatorsquality competition |
| spellingShingle | Suzanne Ruwaard Rudy C M H Douven Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes Most International Journal of Health Policy and Management hospital demand patient choice quality indicators quality competition |
| title | Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes Most |
| title_full | Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes Most |
| title_fullStr | Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes Most |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes Most |
| title_short | Hospital Choice for Cataract Treatments: The Winner Takes Most |
| title_sort | hospital choice for cataract treatments the winner takes most |
| topic | hospital demand patient choice quality indicators quality competition |
| url | http://www.ijhpm.com/article_3535_79a2970ed771086bd1baba6744c61801.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT suzanneruwaard hospitalchoiceforcataracttreatmentsthewinnertakesmost AT rudycmhdouven hospitalchoiceforcataracttreatmentsthewinnertakesmost |