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Patient preferences and physician availability based on physician nativity and international medical school attendance

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Listed:
  • Walker, Brigham
  • Wisniewski, Janna
  • Tinkler, Sarah
  • Stano, Miron
  • Sharma, Rajiv

Abstract

Roughly a quarter of physicians in the United States are either international medical graduates (IMGs) or foreign-born physicians (FBPs). We propose a theoretical model where patient preferences that disfavor IMGs/FBPs may result in these physicians offering better access to their services compared with non-IMGs/FBPs in equilibrium. We use data from two field experiments to test the predictions from the model: one concerning patient preferences and the other concerning physician availability. In the patient preferences field experiment, we find that patients strongly prefer physicians educated in the United States to IMGs by more than 2-to-1. In the physician availability field experiment, we find that US-born physicians generally have lower levels of availability including offering fewer appointments and longer wait times. These results may indicate a substantial underutilization of FBPs relative to US-born physicians and suggest that greater acceptance of IMGs/FBPs will improve access to healthcare in a system that is constrained by supply shortages.

Suggested Citation

  • Walker, Brigham & Wisniewski, Janna & Tinkler, Sarah & Stano, Miron & Sharma, Rajiv, 2024. "Patient preferences and physician availability based on physician nativity and international medical school attendance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:228:y:2024:i:c:s016726812400427x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2024.106813
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    2. Rajiv Sharma & Sarah Tinkler & Arnab Mitra & Sudeshna Pal & Raven Susu‐Mago & Miron Stano, 2018. "State Medicaid fees and access to primary care physicians," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 629-636, March.
    3. Frank Sloan & Janet Mitchell & Jerry Cromwell, 1978. "Physician Participation in State Medicaid Programs," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Physician and Patient Behavior, pages 211-245, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Sharma, Rajiv & Mitra, Arnab & Stano, Miron, 2015. "Insurance, race/ethnicity, and sex in the search for a new physician," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 150-153.
    5. Braga, Breno & Khanna, Gaurav & Turner, Sarah, 2024. "Migration policy and the supply of foreign physicians: Evidence from the Conrad 30 waiver program," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Patient preferences; Physician availability; Foreign physicians; International medical graduates (IMGs); Foreign-born physicians (FBPs);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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