Determinants of Patient Visit Time With Obstetricians in East Azarbayjan: Approach of Hierarchical Linear Modeling

Unnecessary growth in health expenditures of developing countries in recent decades, and also the importance of physicians’ behavior in health market, have made the factors of quality and duration of patient visits on one hand, and the theory of physician induced demand (PID) on the other hand, as two of the most important issues in health economics. Therefore, using data from questionnaires in 2016 and employing theoretical model of Jaegher and Jegers (2000) and hierarchical linear modeling methods (HLM), this study, examines the determinants of time spent in physician’s office and investigates the theory of PID within Obstetricians in the East Azarbayjan province. The results show that physician induced demand (PID) exists in obstetrics. The results also indicate that obstetricians are “doctors tend to profit”. In addition, this study supports the existence of the accessibility effect for those consumers in the higher physician density region. According to these results, it is suggested that in order to reduce competition and eliminate the effects of induced demand, student admission in obstetrics should be reduced, patient information on medical care should be increased, and government monitoring and control over the national health system must be increased