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Reputations count: why benchmarking performance is improving health care across the world

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  • Bevan, Gwyn
  • Evans, Alice
  • Nuti, Sabina

Abstract

This paper explores what motivates improved health care governance. Previously, many have thought that performance would either improve via choice and competition or relying on trust and altruism. But neither assumption is supported by available evidence. So instead we explore a third approach of reciprocal altruism with sanctions for unacceptably poor performance and rewards for high performance. These rewards and sanctions, however, are not monetary but in the form of reputational effects through public reporting of benchmarking of performance . Drawing on natural experiments in Italy and the UK, we illustrate how public benchmarking can improve poor performance at both the sub-national and national level through ‘naming and shaming’ and enhance good performance through ‘competitive benchmarking’ and peer learning. Ethnographic research in Zambia also showed how reputations count. Policy-makers could use these effects in different ways to improve public services.

Suggested Citation

  • Bevan, Gwyn & Evans, Alice & Nuti, Sabina, 2018. "Reputations count: why benchmarking performance is improving health care across the world," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86469, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:86469
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/86469/
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    Cited by:

    1. Tiina J. Peltola & Hanna Tiirinki, 2020. "More Than Numbers: Discourses of Health Care Quality in Finland," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    2. Francesca Casalini & Chiara Seghieri & Michele Emdin & Sabina Nuti, 2017. "Nuovi strumenti di management per la gestione integrata dei percorsi assistenziali dei pazienti cronici," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(102), pages 35-59.
    3. Chiara Barchielli & Anne Marie Rafferty & Milena Vainieri, 2022. "Integrating Key Nursing Measures into a Comprehensive Healthcare Performance Management System: A Tuscan Experience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Guido Noto & Ilaria Corazza & Kristīne Kļaviņa & Jana Lepiksone & Sabina Nuti, 2019. "Health system performance assessment in small countries: The case study of Latvia," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 1408-1422, October.
    5. Ferré, Francesca & Seghieri, Chiara & Nuti, Sabina, 2023. "Women's choices of hospital for breast cancer surgery in Italy: Quality and equity implications," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Seghieri, Chiara & Berta, Paolo & Nuti, Sabina, 2019. "Geographic variation in inpatient costs for Acute Myocardial Infarction care: Insights from Italy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(5), pages 449-456.

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    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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