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Medical innovation and age-specific trends in health care utilization: Findings and implications

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  • Wong, Albert
  • Wouterse, Bram
  • Slobbe, Laurentius C.J.
  • Boshuizen, Hendriek C.
  • Polder, Johan J.

Abstract

Health care utilization is expected to rise in the coming decades. Not only will the aggregate need for health care grow by changing demographics, so too will per capita utilization. It has been suggested that trends in health care utilization may be age-specific. In this paper, age-specific trends in health care utilization are presented for different health care sectors in the Netherlands, for the period 1981–2009. For the hospital sector we also explore the link between these trends and the state of medical technology. Using aggregated data from a Dutch health survey and a nationwide hospital register, regression analysis was used to examine age-specific trends in the probability of utilizing health care. To determine the influence of medical technology, the growth in age-specific probabilities of hospital care was regressed on the number of medical patents while adjusting for confounders related to demographics, health status, supply and institutional factors. The findings suggest that for most health care sectors, the trend in the probability of health care utilization is highest for ages 65 and up. Larger advances in medical technology are found to be significantly associated with a higher growth of hospitalization probability, particularly for the higher ages. Age-specific trends will raise questions on the sustainability of intergenerational solidarity in health care, as solidarity will not only be strained by the ageing population, but also might find itself under additional pressure as the gap in health care utilization between elderly and non-elderly grows over time. For hospital care utilization, this process might well be accelerated by advances in medical technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Wong, Albert & Wouterse, Bram & Slobbe, Laurentius C.J. & Boshuizen, Hendriek C. & Polder, Johan J., 2012. "Medical innovation and age-specific trends in health care utilization: Findings and implications," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 263-272.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:74:y:2012:i:2:p:263-272
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.026
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    2. Kuhn, Michael & Frankovic, Ivan & Wrzaczek, Stefan, 2017. "Medical Progress, Demand for Health Care, and Economic Performance," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168249, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Philipp Hafner & Jörg C. Mahlich, 2016. "Determinants of physician's office visits and potential effects of co-payments: evidence from Austria," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 192-203, July.
    4. Bloom, David E. & Kuhn, Michael & Prettner, Klaus, 2018. "Health and Economic Growth," IZA Discussion Papers 11939, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Frankovic, Ivan & Kuhn, Michael & Wrzaczek, Stefan, 2020. "Medical innovation and its diffusion: Implications for economic performance and welfare," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Kuhn, Michael & Minniti, Antonio & Prettner, Klaus & Venturini, Francesco, 2023. "Medical innovation, life expectancy, and economic growth," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 342, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    7. Albert Wong & Hendriek Boshuizen & Johan Polder & José António Ferreira, 2017. "Assessing the inequality of lifetime healthcare expenditures: a nearest neighbour resampling approach," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 180(1), pages 141-160, January.
    8. Frankovic, Ivan & Kuhn, Michael, 2023. "Health insurance, endogenous medical progress, health expenditure growth, and welfare," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Lindgren, Björn, 2016. "The Rise in Life Expectancy, Health Trends among the Elderly, and the Demand for Health and Social Care," Working Papers 142, National Institute of Economic Research.
    10. Frankovic, Ivan & Kuhn, Michael, 2018. "Health insurance, endogenous medical progress, and health expenditure growth," ECON WPS - Working Papers in Economic Theory and Policy 01/2018, TU Wien, Institute of Statistics and Mathematical Methods in Economics, Economics Research Unit.
    11. Nor Aziah Abd Kadir & Nur Fakhzan Marwan & Adibah Hussin & Rosmah Nizam & Fazreena Mansor, 2022. "Long Run Analysis between Climate Change, Socio-Economic Factors and Technology on Health Expenditure in Malaysia," International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 12(2), pages 6589-6589, December.
    12. Ghosh, Ausmita & Simon, Kosali & Sommers, Benjamin D., 2019. "The Effect of Health Insurance on Prescription Drug Use Among Low-Income Adults:Evidence from Recent Medicaid Expansions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 64-80.
    13. Okunade, Albert A. & Osmani, Ahmad Reshad, 2018. "Technology, Productivity, and Costs in Healthcare," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 1-21.

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