IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/chy/respap/88cherp.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does quality affect patients’ choice of doctor? Evidence from the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Rita Santos

    (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK)

  • Hugh Gravelle

    (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK)

  • Carol Propper

    (Imperial College, london, University of Bristol and CEPR, UK)

Abstract

Recent and planned policy changes in the NHS, including the abolition of the Medical Practices Committee, revised tendering arrangements for new practices, readily available information on practices via NHS Choices, and letting patients register with any practice, will increase potential competition amongst general practices. Since practices cannot compete on price they may compete on the quality they offer to patients. A necessary condition for greater competition to improve quality is that patient choice of practice is affected by practice quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Rita Santos & Hugh Gravelle & Carol Propper, 2013. "Does quality affect patients’ choice of doctor? Evidence from the UK," Working Papers 088cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
  • Handle: RePEc:chy:respap:88cherp
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.york.ac.uk/media/che/documents/papers/researchpapers/CHERP88_quality_choice_GP.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2013
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hugh Gravelle & Matt Sutton & Ada Ma, 2010. "Doctor Behaviour under a Pay for Performance Contract: Treating, Cheating and Case Finding?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 129-156, February.
    2. Caroline Minter Hoxby, 2003. "School Choice and School Productivity. Could School Choice Be a Tide that Lifts All Boats?," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of School Choice, pages 287-342, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Burns, Lawton R. & Wholey, Douglas R., 1992. "The impact of physician characteristics in conditional choice models for hospital care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 43-62, May.
    4. Katherine Ho, 2006. "The welfare effects of restricted hospital choice in the US medical care market," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 1039-1079.
    5. Gaynor, Martin & Town, Robert J., 2011. "Competition in Health Care Markets," Handbook of Health Economics, in: Mark V. Pauly & Thomas G. Mcguire & Pedro P. Barros (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 499-637, Elsevier.
    6. Martin Gaynor & Rodrigo Moreno-Serra & Carol Propper, 2013. "Death by Market Power: Reform, Competition, and Patient Outcomes in the National Health Service," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 134-166, November.
    7. Godager, Geir, 2012. "Birds of a feather flock together: A study of doctor–patient matching," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 296-305.
    8. Martin Gaynor & Carol Propper & Stephan Seiler, 2012. "Free to Choose? Reform and Demand Response in the English National Health Service," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 12/297, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    9. Biørn, Erik & Godager, Geir, 2010. "Does quality influence choice of general practitioner? An analysis of matched doctor-patient panel data," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 842-853, July.
    10. Karlsson, Martin, 2007. "Quality incentives for GPs in a regulated market," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 699-720, July.
    11. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2000. "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1209-1238, December.
    12. Epple, Dennis & Figlio, David & Romano, Richard, 2004. "Competition between private and public schools: testing stratification and pricing predictions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1215-1245, July.
    13. David M. Cutler & Robert S. Huckman & Mary Beth Landrum, 2004. "The Role of Information in Medical Markets: An Analysis of Publicly Reported Outcomes in Cardiac Surgery," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 342-346, May.
    14. Brekke, Kurt R. & Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2010. "Price and quality in spatial competition," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 471-480, November.
    15. Walter Beckert & Mette Christensen & Kate Collyer, 2012. "Choice of NHS‐funded Hospital Services in England," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(560), pages 400-417, May.
    16. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2003. "The Economics of School Choice," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number hox03-1, March.
    17. Iversen, Tor & Lurås, Hilde, 2011. "Patient switching in general practice," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 894-903.
    18. Peter Sivey, 2010. "The effect of waiting time and distance on hospital choice for English cataract patients," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 10/09, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    19. Martin Gaynor, "undated". "What Do We Know About Competition and Quality in Health Care Markets?," GSIA Working Papers 2006-E62, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    20. Scott, Anthony & Vick, Sandra, 1999. "Patients, Doctors and Contracts: An Application of Principal-Agent Theory to the Doctor-Patient Relationship," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 46(2), pages 111-134, May.
    21. Jeffrey Richardson & Stuart Peacock & Duncan Mortimer, 2006. "Does an increase in the doctor supply reduce medical fees? An econometric analysis of medical fees across Australia," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 253-266.
    22. repec:ecj:econjl:v:122:y:2012:i::p:400-417 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Arne Risa Hole, 2007. "A comparison of approaches to estimating confidence intervals for willingness to pay measures," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(8), pages 827-840, August.
    24. Pike, Chris, 2010. "An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of GP Competition," MPRA Paper 27613, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    25. Zack Cooper & Stephen Gibbons & Simon Jones & Alistair McGuire, 2011. "Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence From The English NHS Patient Choice Reforms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(554), pages 228-260, August.
    26. Tay, Abigail, 2003. "Assessing Competition in Hospital Care Markets: The Importance of Accounting for Quality Differentiation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(4), pages 786-814, Winter.
    27. Elizabeth Savage & Glenn Jones, 2004. "An Analysis of the General Practice Access Scheme on GP Incomes, Bulk Billing and Consumer Copayments," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 37(1), pages 31-40, March.
    28. Le Grand, Julian, 2003. "Motivation, Agency, and Public Policy: Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199266999.
    29. Maija Halonen-Akatwijuka & Carol Propper, 2012. "Competition, Equity and Quality in Health Care," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 12/296, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    30. Gravelle, Hugh, 1999. "Capitation contracts: access and quality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 315-340, June.
    31. Anthony Scott & Sandra Vick, 1999. "Patients, Doctors and Contracts: An Application of Principal‐Agent Theory to the Doctor‐Patient Relationship," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 46(2), pages 111-134, May.
    32. Vick, Sandra & Scott, Anthony, 1998. "Agency in health care. Examining patients' preferences for attributes of the doctor-patient relationship," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 587-605, October.
    33. F. Moscone & E. Tosetti & G. Vittadini, 2012. "Social interaction in patients’ hospital choice: evidence from Italy," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 175(2), pages 453-472, April.
    34. Timothy Besley & Maitreesh Ghatak, 2003. "Incentives, Choice, and Accountability in the Provision of Public Services," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(2), pages 235-249, Summer.
    35. Mark V. Pauly & Thomas G. Mcguire & Pedro P. Barros (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Health Economics," Handbook of Health Economics, Elsevier, volume 2, number 2.
    36. Pope, Devin G., 2009. "Reacting to rankings: Evidence from "America's Best Hospitals"," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1154-1165, December.
    37. Gravelle, Hugh & Masiero, Giuliano, 2000. "Quality incentives in a regulated market with imperfect information and switching costs: capitation in general practice," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 1067-1088, November.
    38. Stock, James H & Wright, Jonathan H & Yogo, Motohiro, 2002. "A Survey of Weak Instruments and Weak Identification in Generalized Method of Moments," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(4), pages 518-529, October.
    39. Jesse Rothstein, 2007. "Does Competition Among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers? Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 2026-2037, December.
    40. Varkevisser, Marco & van der Geest, Stéphanie A. & Schut, Frederik T., 2012. "Do patients choose hospitals with high quality ratings? Empirical evidence from the market for angioplasty in the Netherlands," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 371-378.
    41. Patrick Bayer & Robert McMillan, 2005. "Choice and Competition in Local Education Markets," NBER Working Papers 11802, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    42. Epple, Dennis & Romano, Richard E, 1998. "Competition between Private and Public Schools, Vouchers, and Peer-Group Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 33-62, March.
    43. Hugh Gravelle & Rita Santos & Luigi Siciliani & Rosalind Goudie, 2012. "Hospital Quality Competition Under Fixed Prices," Working Papers 080cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. #HEJC papers for August 2013
      by academichealtheconomists in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2013-08-01 04:00:48

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nadja Kairies-Schwarz, 2014. "Altruism Heterogeneity and Quality Competition Among Healthcare Providers," Ruhr Economic Papers 0507, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Walter Beckert, 2015. "Choice in the Presence of Experts," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 1503, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    3. Piia Pekola & Ismo Linnosmaa & Hennamari Mikkola, 2017. "Does Competition Have an Effect on Price and Quality in Physiotherapy?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(10), pages 1278-1290, October.
    4. Davari, Soheil & Kilic, Kemal & Naderi, Siamak, 2016. "A heuristic approach to solve the preventive health care problem with budget and congestion constraints," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 276(C), pages 442-453.
    5. Beckert, Walter, 2018. "Choice in the presence of experts: The role of general practitioners in patients’ hospital choice," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 98-117.
    6. Andrew Sfekas, 2019. "Quality Competition and Intra-System Substitution in the Hospital Industry," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 5(1), pages 65-96, Winter.
    7. Soheil Davari & Kemal Kilic & Gurdal Ertek, 2015. "Fuzzy bi-objective preventive health care network design," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 303-317, September.
    8. Christopher J. Cronin & David K. Guilkey & Ilene S. Speizer, 2019. "Measurement error in discrete health facility choice models: An example from urban Senegal," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(7), pages 1102-1120, November.
    9. repec:zbw:rwirep:0507 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rita Santos & Hugh Gravelle & Carol Propper, 2013. "Does quality affect patients’ choice of doctor? Evidence from the UK," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 13/306, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    2. Hugh Gravelle & Rita Santos & Luigi Siciliani & Rosalind Goudie, 2012. "Hospital Quality Competition Under Fixed Prices," Working Papers 080cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    3. Gutacker, Nils & Siciliani, Luigi & Moscelli, Giuseppe & Gravelle, Hugh, 2016. "Choice of hospital: Which type of quality matters?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 230-246.
    4. Empel, Giovanni & Gravelle, Hugh & Santos, Rita, 2023. "Does quality affect choice of family physician? Evidence from patients changing general practice without changing address," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    5. Kurt R. Brekke & Luigi Siciliani & Odd Rune Straume, 2013. "Hospital Mergers: A Spatial Competition Approach," NIPE Working Papers 04/2013, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    6. Martin Gaynor & Carol Propper & Stephan Seiler, 2012. "Free to Choose? Reform and Demand Response in the English National Health Service," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 12/297, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    7. Kurt R. Brekke & Luigi Siciliani & Odd Rune Straume, 2017. "Hospital Mergers with Regulated Prices," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(3), pages 597-627, July.
    8. Martin Gaynor & Kate Ho & Robert J. Town, 2015. "The Industrial Organization of Health-Care Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(2), pages 235-284, June.
    9. repec:nip:nipewp:10/2014 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Lippi Bruni, Matteo & Ugolini, Cristina & Verzulli, Rossella, 2021. "Should I wait or should I go? Travelling versus waiting for better healthcare," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    11. Martin Gaynor & Carol Propper & Stephan Seiler, 2016. "Free to Choose? Reform, Choice, and Consideration Sets in the English National Health Service," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(11), pages 3521-3557, November.
    12. Domenico Lisi & Luigi Siciliani & Odd Rune Straume, 2020. "Hospital competition under pay‐for‐performance: Quality, mortality, and readmissions," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 289-314, April.
    13. Gaynor, Martin & Laudicella, Mauro & Propper, Carol, 2012. "Can governments do it better? Merger mania and hospital outcomes in the English NHS," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 528-543.
    14. Daniel Herrera-Araujo & Lise Rochaix, 2020. "Competition between Public and Private Maternity Care Providers in France: Evidence on Market Segmentation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-19, October.
    15. Elaine Kelly & George Stoye, 2015. "New joints: private providers and rising demand in the English National Health Service," IFS Working Papers W15/22, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    16. Visa Pitkänen & Ismo Linnosmaa, 2021. "Choice, quality and patients’ experience: evidence from a Finnish physiotherapy service," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 229-245, June.
    17. Gaynor, Martin & Town, Robert J., 2011. "Competition in Health Care Markets," Handbook of Health Economics, in: Mark V. Pauly & Thomas G. Mcguire & Pedro P. Barros (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 499-637, Elsevier.
    18. Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2019. "Competition and equity in health care markets," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-14.
    19. Cellini, Roberto & Brekke, Kurt Richard & Siciliani, Luigi, 2008. "Competition and quality in regulated markets with sluggish demand," CEPR Discussion Papers 6938, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Moscelli, Giuseppe & Siciliani, Luigi & Gutacker, Nils & Gravelle, Hugh, 2016. "Location, quality and choice of hospital: Evidence from England 2002–2013," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 112-124.
    21. Brekke, Kurt R. & Canta, Chiara & Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2021. "Hospital competition in a national health service: Evidence from a patient choice reform," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:chy:respap:88cherp. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gill Forder (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/chyoruk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.