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A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Guideline Adherence and Access to Expertise

Author

Listed:
  • Finkelstein, Amy

    (MIT)

  • Persson, Petra

    (Stanford University)

  • Polyakova, Maria

    (Stanford University)

  • Shapiro, Jesse M.

    (Brown University)

Abstract

We use population administrative data from Sweden to study adherence to 63 medication-related guidelines. We compare the adherence of patients without personal access to medical expertise to the adherence of those with access, namely doctors and their close relatives. We estimate that, among observably similar patients, access to expertise is associated with 3.8 percentage points lower adherence, relative to a baseline adherence rate of 54.4 percent among those without access. This association is larger for recommendations with a weaker clinical motivation. Our findings suggest an important role in non-adherence for factors other than those, such as ignorance, complexity, or failures of patient-provider communication, that would be expected to diminish with access to expertise.

Suggested Citation

  • Finkelstein, Amy & Persson, Petra & Polyakova, Maria & Shapiro, Jesse M., 2021. "A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Guideline Adherence and Access to Expertise," Working Paper Series 1421, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1421
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Anupam Jena & David Slusky & Lilly Springer, 2023. "Occupational Hazard? An Analysis of Birth Outcomes Among Physician Mothers," NBER Working Papers 31955, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Dahlstrand Rudin, Amanda, 2022. "Defying distance? The provision of services in the digital age," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118042, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Information; Medical decision-making; Experts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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