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Do waiting times reduce hospital costs?

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Author Info
Luigi Siciliani, Anderson Stanciole, Rowena Jacobs

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Abstract

Using a sample of 137 hospitals over the period 1998-2002 in the English National Health Service, we estimate the elasticity of hospital costs with respect to waiting times. Our cross-sectional and panel-data results suggest that at the sample mean (103 days), waiting times have no significant effect on hospital, costs or, at most, a positive one. If significant, the elasticity of cost with respect to waiting time from our cross-sectional estimates is in the range 0.4-1. The elasticity is still positive but lower in our fixed-effects specifications (0.2-0.4). In all specifications, the effect of waiting time on cost is non-linear, suggesting a U-shaped relationship between hospital costs and waiting times: the level of waiting time which minimises total costs is always below ten days.

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Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of York in its series Discussion Papers with number 08/02.

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Date of creation: Feb 2008
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Handle: RePEc:yor:yorken:08/02

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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  1. Luigi Siciliani & Steve Martin, 2007. "An empirical analysis of the impact of choice on waiting times," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(8), pages 763-779. [Downloadable!]
  2. Iversen, Tor, 1993. "A theory of hospital waiting lists," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 55-71, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Pedro Pita Barros & Pau Olivella, 2005. "Waiting Lists and Patient Selection," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 14(3), pages 623-646, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Jeremy Hurst & Luigi Siciliani, 2003. "Tackling Excessive Waiting Times for Elective Surgery: A Comparison of Policies in Twelve OECD Countries," OECD Health Working Papers 6, OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. [Downloadable!]
  5. Iversen, Tor, 1997. "The effect of a private sector on the waiting time in a national health service," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 381-396, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Propper, Carol & Burgess, Simon & Green, Katherine, 2004. "Does competition between hospitals improve the quality of care?: Hospital death rates and the NHS internal market," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1247-1272, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Olivella, Pau, 2003. "Shifting public-health-sector waiting lists to the private sector," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 103-132, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Vita, Michael G., 1990. "Exploring hospital production relationships with flexible functional forms," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Cullis, John G. & Jones, Philip R. & Propper, Carol, 2000. "Waiting lists and medical treatment: Analysis and policies," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 23, pages 1201-1249 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Lindsay, Cotton M & Feigenbaum, Bernard, 1984. "Rationing by Waiting Lists," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 404-17, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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