Does Quality Affect Patients' Choice of Doctor? Evidence from England

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Santos, Rita; Gravelle, Hugh; Propper, Carol
• 署名单位: University of York - UK; University of Bristol; Imperial College London; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12282
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 445-494
• 关键词: schools benefit students; general-practice; public-schools; primary-care; regulated market; hospital choice; COMPETITION; incentives; asterisk; outcomes

摘要

Reforms giving users of public services choice of provider aim to improve quality. But such reforms will work only if quality affects choice of provider. We test this crucial prerequisite in the English health care market by examining the choice of 3.4million individuals of family doctor. Family doctor practices provide primary care and control access to non-emergency hospital care, the quality of their clinical care is measured and published and care is free. In this setting, clinical quality should affect choice. We find that a 1standard deviation increase in clinical quality would increase practice size by around 17%.