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Does more choice reduce waiting times?

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  • Luigi Siciliani

Abstract

This paper develops a model of the supply of elective treatments within a duopolistic market structure where patients can be referred to the hospital with the lowest waiting times. We investigate the effect of a higher degree of substitutability among the two hospitals on equilibrium supply, waiting time and the size of the waiting list. The degree of substitutability is interpreted as the degree of choice or the extent to which patients can switch from one hospital to the other. We show that the greater the degree of substitutability among hospitals, the lower is the supply and the higher the waiting time. The effect on waiting list size is ambiguous. This result holds either when the hospital is remunerated with a fixed budget or with activity‐based funding. However, the reduction in supply and the increase in waiting time generated by higher substitutability are higher when hospitals are remunerated with fixed budgets. The main implication of the model is that, under certain assumptions, policies aimed at increasing provider choice may fail to reduce waiting times. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Luigi Siciliani, 2005. "Does more choice reduce waiting times?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(1), pages 17-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:14:y:2005:i:1:p:17-23
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.888
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    Cited by:

    1. Brekke, Kurt R. & Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2008. "Competition and waiting times in hospital markets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(7), pages 1607-1628, July.
    2. Luigi Siciliani & Tor Iversen, 2012. "Waiting Times and Waiting Lists," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Dixon, Huw & Siciliani, Luigi, 2009. "Waiting-time targets in the healthcare sector: How long are we waiting?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1081-1098, December.
    4. Hugh Gravelle & Luigi Siciliani, 2008. "Is waiting‐time prioritisation welfare improving?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 167-184, February.
    5. Huw Dixon & Luigi Siciliani, 2009. "Waiting Time Targets in Healthcare Markets: How Long Are We Waiting?," Discussion Papers 09/05, Department of Economics, University of York.
    6. Christine A. Yee & Kyle Barr & Taeko Minegishi & Austin Frakt & Steven D. Pizer, 2022. "Provider supply and access to primary care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1296-1316, July.
    7. Andritsos, Dimitrios A. & Tang, Christopher S., 2014. "Introducing competition in healthcare services: The role of private care and increased patient mobility," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 234(3), pages 898-909.
    8. Luigi Siciliani, 2008. "A note on the dynamic interaction between waiting times and waiting lists," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(5), pages 639-647, May.
    9. Fabrizio Iacone & Steve Martin & Luigi Siciliani & Peter C. Smith, 2012. "Modelling the dynamics of a public health care system: evidence from time-series data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(23), pages 2955-2968, August.
    10. Jacqueline O'Reilly & Miriam M. Wiley, 2008. "How Local is Hospital Treatment? An Exploratory Analysis of Public/Private Variation in Location of Treatment in Irish Acute Public Hospitals," Papers WP237, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    11. Moscelli, Giuseppe & Gravelle, Hugh & Siciliani, Luigi, 2023. "The effect of hospital choice and competition on inequalities in waiting times," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 169-201.
    12. Pedro Pita Barros, 2022. "Quality decreases from introducing patient choice in a National Health Service," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 21(3), pages 351-381, September.
    13. Siciliani, Luigi & Stanciole, Anderson & Jacobs, Rowena, 2009. "Do waiting times reduce hospital costs?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 771-780, July.
    14. Indranil Dutta & Mario Pezzino & Yan Song, 2022. "Should developing countries ban dual practice by physicians? Analysis under mixed hospital competition," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(11), pages 2289-2310, November.
    15. Kurt R. Brekke & Lars Sørgard, 2007. "Public versus private health care in a national health service," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(6), pages 579-601, June.
    16. Hiroshi Aiura, 2013. "Inter-regional competition and quality in hospital care," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(3), pages 515-526, June.
    17. Andritsos, Dimitrios A. & Tang, Christopher S., 2013. "The impact of cross-border patient movement on the delivery of healthcare services," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 702-712.
    18. Merehau Cindy Mervin & Sukhan Jackson, 2009. "How can we improve waiting time for elective surgery in Australian public hospitals?," Discussion Papers Series 387, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

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