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Medical insurance and free choice of physician shape patient overtreatment: a laboratory experiment
[working paper]
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Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH
Abstract "In a laboratory experiment designed to capture key aspects of the interaction between physicians and patients, we study the effects of medical insurance and competition in the guise of free choice of physician, including observability of physicians’ market shares. Medical treatment is an example of... view more
"In a laboratory experiment designed to capture key aspects of the interaction between physicians and patients, we study the effects of medical insurance and competition in the guise of free choice of physician, including observability of physicians’ market shares. Medical treatment is an example of a credence good: only the physician knows the appropriate treatment, the patient does not. Even after a consultation, the patient is not sure whether he received the right treatment or whether he was perhaps overtreated. We find that with insurance, moral hazard looms on both sides of the market: patients consult more often and physicians overtreat more often than in the baseline condition. Competition decreases overtreatment compared to the baseline and patients therefore consult more often. When the two institutions are combined, competition is found to partially offset the adverse effects of insurance: most patients seek treatment, but overtreatment is moderated." (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
competition; health insurance; health insurance fund; choice of physician; physician-patient relationship; patient
Classification
Health Policy
Free Keywords
Überbehandlung
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
Edition
rev. version, June 2016
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
54 p.
Series
Discussion Papers / Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Forschungsschwerpunkt Markt und Entscheidung, Abteilung Ökonomik des Wandels, SP II 2014-307r
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/142222
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications