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Socioeconomic status and waiting times for health services: An international literature review and evidence from the Italian National Health System

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  • Landi, Stefano
  • Ivaldi, Enrico
  • Testi, Angela

Abstract

In the absence of priority criteria, waiting times are an implicit rationing instrument where the absence or limited use of prices creates an excess of demand. Even in the presence of priority criteria, waiting times may be unfair because they reduce health care demand of patients in lower socio-economic conditions due to high opportunity costs of time or a decay in their health level. Significant evidence has shown a relationship between socioeconomic status and the length of waiting time.

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  • Landi, Stefano & Ivaldi, Enrico & Testi, Angela, 2018. "Socioeconomic status and waiting times for health services: An international literature review and evidence from the Italian National Health System," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(4), pages 334-351.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:122:y:2018:i:4:p:334-351
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.01.003
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    2. Laia Bosque‐Mercader & Neus Carrilero & Anna García‐Altés & Guillem López‐Casasnovas & Luigi Siciliani, 2023. "Socioeconomic inequalities in waiting times for planned and cancer surgery: Evidence from Spain," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1181-1201, May.
    3. Nicolai Fink Simonsen & Anne Sophie Oxholm & Søren Rud Kristensen & Luigi Siciliani, 2020. "What explains differences in waiting times for health care across socioeconomic status?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1764-1785, December.
    4. Martin, Steve & Siciliani, Luigi & Smith, Peter, 2020. "Socioeconomic inequalities in waiting times for primary care across ten OECD countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    5. Óscar Brito Fernandes & Armin Lucevic & Márta Péntek & Dionne Kringos & Niek Klazinga & László Gulácsi & Zsombor Zrubka & Petra Baji, 2021. "Self-Reported Waiting Times for Outpatient Health Care Services in Hungary: Results of a Cross-Sectional Survey on a National Representative Sample," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-14, February.
    6. Luca Armanaschi & Elisabetta Barzan & Magda Cavallucci & Carlo Federici & Marco Sartirana & Florian Zerzer, 2022. "I dati amministrativi per la governance dei tempi di attesa delle prestazioni ambulatoriali: l?esperienza dell?Azienda Sanitaria dell?Alto Adige," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(123), pages 53-75.
    7. Norman GWANGWAVA & Kgalalelo D. NTESANG, 2021. "Appointment Scheduling System for a Primary Hospital," Database Systems Journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(1), pages 40-55.
    8. Sahana Mathiarasan & Anke Hüls, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Injustice on Children’s Health—Interaction between Air Pollution and Socioeconomic Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-10, January.
    9. Joana Cima & Álvaro Almeida, 2022. "The impact of cancellations in waiting times analysis: evidence from scheduled surgeries in the Portuguese NHS," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(1), pages 95-104, February.
    10. Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Giorgia Marini, 2023. "Good health with good institutions. An empirical analysis for italian regions," Public Finance Research Papers 61, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
    11. Peter Binyaruka & Josephine Borghi, 2022. "An equity analysis on the household costs of accessing and utilising maternal and child health care services in Tanzania," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    12. Joana Cima & Paulo Guimarães & Álvaro Almeida, 2018. "Explaining the gender gap in waiting times for scheduled surgery in the Portuguese National Health Service," FEP Working Papers 607, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    13. Enrico Ivaldi & Paolo Parra Saiani & Juan José Primosich & Carolina Bruzzi, 2020. "Health and Deprivation: A New Approach Applied to 32 Argentinian Urban Areas," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 155-179, August.
    14. Turner, Alex J & Francetic, Igor & Watkinson, Ruth & Gillibrand, Stephanie & Sutton, Matt, 2022. "Socioeconomic inequality in access to timely and appropriate care in emergency departments," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. Christine A. Yee & Aaron Legler & Michael Davies & Julia Prentice & Steven Pizer, 2020. "Priority access to health care: Evidence from an exogenous policy shock," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 306-323, March.

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