Custom Made Versus Ready to Wear Treatments; Behavioral Propensities in Physician's Choices

Richard G. Frank and Richard Zeckhauser

No 13445, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: To customize treatments to individual patients entails costs of coordination and cognition. Thus, providers sometimes choose treatments based on norms for broad classes of patients. We develop behavioral hypotheses explaining when and why doctors customize to the particular patient, and when instead they employ "ready-to-wear" treatments. Our empirical studies examining length of office visits and physician prescribing behavior find evidence of norm-following behavior. Some such behavior, from our studies and from the literature, proves sensible; but other behavior seems far from optimal.

JEL-codes: D80 I11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
Note: EH
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

Published as Frank, Richard G. & Zeckhauser, Richard J., 2007. "Custom-made versus ready-to-wear treatments: Behavioral propensities in physicians' choices," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1101-1127, December.

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