IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/lunewp/2022_002.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Well-Informed Choices? Effects of Information Interventions in Primary Care on Care Quality

Author

Listed:
  • Anell, Anders

    (Department of Business Administration, Lund University)

  • Dietrichson, Jens

    (VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research)

  • Ellegård, Lina Maria

    (Department of Economics, Lund University)

  • Kjellsson, Gustav

    (Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg)

Abstract

Market frictions, such as imperfect information or hassle costs, may reduce benefits from market incentives in healthcare settings. We use data from two randomised policy interventions in a Swedish region, which improved the access to provider information and reduced the switching costs of one percent of the adult population and of a sample of new residents. We examine the effects of the interventions on a large number of clinical process quality measures, access to care, and adverse health events, measured at the individual level. We find no significant effect of the interventions on any of the quality measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Anell, Anders & Dietrichson, Jens & Ellegård, Lina Maria & Kjellsson, Gustav, 2022. "Well-Informed Choices? Effects of Information Interventions in Primary Care on Care Quality," Working Papers 2022:2, Lund University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2022_002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/173634107/WP22_2
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:mpr:mprres:7375 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Godager, Geir & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Iversen, Tor, 2016. "Does performance disclosure influence physicians’ medical decisions? An experimental study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PB), pages 36-46.
    3. Gravelle, Hugh & Liu, Dan & Propper, Carol & Santos, Rita, 2019. "Spatial competition and quality: Evidence from the English family doctor market," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Benjamin R. Handel & Jonathan T. Kolstad, 2015. "Health Insurance for "Humans": Information Frictions, Plan Choice, and Consumer Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(8), pages 2449-2500, August.
    5. Paul Klemperer, 1995. "Competition when Consumers have Switching Costs: An Overview with Applications to Industrial Organization, Macroeconomics, and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(4), pages 515-539.
    6. Jeffrey R. Kling & Sendhil Mullainathan & Eldar Shafir & Lee C. Vermeulen & Marian V. Wrobel, 2012. "Comparison Friction: Experimental Evidence from Medicare Drug Plans," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(1), pages 199-235.
    7. Amy Finkelstein & Sarah Taubman & Bill Wright & Mira Bernstein & Jonathan Gruber & Joseph P. Newhouse & Heidi Allen & Katherine Baicker, 2012. "The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 127(3), pages 1057-1106.
    8. Jeffrey R Kling & Jeffrey B Liebman & Lawrence F Katz, 2007. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 83-119, January.
    9. Jonathan T. Kolstad, 2013. "Information and Quality When Motivation Is Intrinsic: Evidence from Surgeon Report Cards," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2875-2910, December.
    10. Susan F. Lu & Huaxia Rui, 2018. "Can We Trust Online Physician Ratings? Evidence from Cardiac Surgeons in Florida," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(6), pages 2557-2573, June.
    11. Jonathan T. Kolstad, 2013. "Information and Quality when Motivation is Intrinsic: Evidence from Surgeon Report Cards," NBER Working Papers 18804, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Glenngård, Anna H. & Anell, Anders & Beckman, Anders, 2011. "Choice of primary care provider: Results from a population survey in three Swedish counties," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 31-37.
    13. Richard Domurat & Isaac Menashe & Wesley Yin, 2021. "The Role of Behavioral Frictions in Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollment and Risk: Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1549-1574, May.
    14. Bensnes, Simon & Huitfeldt, Ingrid, 2021. "Rumor has it: How do patients respond to patient-generated physician ratings?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    15. Cornell, Portia Y. & Grabowski, David C. & Norton, Edward C. & Rahman, Momotazur, 2019. "Do report cards predict future quality? The case of skilled nursing facilities," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 208-221.
    16. Jason Abaluck & Jonathan Gruber, 2016. "Improving the Quality of Choices in Health Insurance Markets," NBER Working Papers 22917, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items 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. Anell, Anders & Dietrichson, Jens & Ellegård, Lina Maria & Kjellsson, Gustav, 2021. "Information, switching costs, and consumer choice: Evidence from two randomised field experiments in Swedish primary health care," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    2. Jens Dietrichson & Lina Maria Ellegård & Gustav Kjellsson, 2020. "Patient choice, entry, and the quality of primary care: Evidence from Swedish reforms," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 716-730, June.
    3. Bensnes, Simon & Huitfeldt, Ingrid, 2021. "Rumor has it: How do patients respond to patient-generated physician ratings?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Godager , Geir & Scott, Anthony, 2023. "Physician Behavior and Health Outcomes," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2023:3, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    6. Brosig-Koch, Jeannette & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Kairies-Schwarz, Nadja & Kokot, Johanna & Wiesen, Daniel, 2020. "Physician performance pay: Experimental evidence," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2020:3, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    7. Michael Geruso & Timothy Layton, 2020. "Upcoding: Evidence from Medicare on Squishy Risk Adjustment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(3), pages 984-1026.
    8. Tamara Bischof & Michael Gerfin & Tobias Mueller, 2021. "Attention Please! Health Plan Choice and (In-)Attention," Diskussionsschriften dp2111, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    9. Jessica Van Parys & Zach Y. Brown, 2023. "Broadband Internet Access and Health Outcomes: Patient and Provider Responses in Medicare," NBER Working Papers 31579, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Attema, Arthur E. & Galizzi, Matteo M. & Groß, Mona & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Karay, Yassin & L’Haridon, Olivier & Wiesen, Daniel, 2023. "The formation of physician altruism," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. Ben Greiner & Le Zhang & Chengxiang Tang, 2017. "Separation of prescription and treatment in health care markets: A laboratory experiment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S3), pages 21-35, December.
    12. Duggan, Mark & Starc, Amanda & Vabson, Boris, 2016. "Who benefits when the government pays more? Pass-through in the Medicare Advantage program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 50-67.
    13. Keith Marzilli Ericson & Justin Sydnor, 2017. "The Questionable Value of Having a Choice of Levels of Health Insurance Coverage," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 51-72, Fall.
    14. Brosig-Koch, Jeannette & Groß, Mona & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Kairies-Schwarz, Nadja & Wiesen, Daniel, 2021. "Physicians' incentives, patients' characteristics, and quality of care: A systematic experimental comparison of fee-for-service, capitation, and pay for performance," Ruhr Economic Papers 923, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Baillon, Aurélien & Capuno, Joseph & O'Donnell, Owen & Tan, Carlos Antonio & van Wilgenburg, Kim, 2022. "Persistent effects of temporary incentives: Evidence from a nationwide health insurance experiment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Iizuka, Toshiaki & Nishiyama, Katsuhiko & Chen, Brian & Eggleston, Karen, 2021. "False alarm? Estimating the marginal value of health signals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    17. Anthony Scott & Peter Sivey, 2022. "Motivation and competition in health care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 1695-1712, August.
    18. Sendhil Mullainathan & Ziad Obermeyer, 2019. "Diagnosing Physician Error: A Machine Learning Approach to Low-Value Health Care," NBER Working Papers 26168, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Sendhil Mullainathan & Ziad Obermeyer, 2023. "Diagnosing Physician Error: A Machine Learning Approach to Low-Value Health Care," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 137(2), pages 679-727.
    20. Waibel, Christian & Wiesen, Daniel, 2021. "An experiment on referrals in health care," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Market frictions; Field experiment; Care quality; Primary care; Sweden;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D89 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Other
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets

    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:hhs:lunewp:2022_002. 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: Prakriti Thami (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/delunse.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.