Choice of hospital: Which type of quality matters?

Nils Gutacker (), Luigi Siciliani, Giuseppe Moscelli and Hugh Gravelle

Journal of Health Economics, 2016, vol. 50, issue C, 230-246

Abstract: The implications of hospital quality competition depend on what type of quality affects choice of hospital. Previous studies of quality and choice of hospitals have used crude measures of quality such as mortality and readmission rates rather than measures of the health gain from specific treatments. We estimate multinomial logit models of hospital choice by patients undergoing hip replacement surgery in the English NHS to test whether hospital demand responds to quality as measured by detailed patient reports of health before and after hip replacement. We find that a one standard deviation increase in average health gain increases demand by up to 10%. The more traditional measures of hospital quality are less important in determining hospital choice.

Keywords: Quality; Demand; Healthcare; Hospitals; Competition; Patient reported outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (73)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:230-246

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2016.08.001

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