IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp16048.html

Physicians Treating Physicians: Relational and Informational Advantages in Treatment and Survival

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Stacey H.

    (University of Tokyo)

  • Chen, Jennjou

    (National Chengchi University)

  • Chuang, Hongwei

    (International University of Japan)

  • Lin, Tzu-Hsin

    (National Taiwan University)

Abstract

We use the medical specialties of physician-patients with advanced cancer to study the role of knowledge versus networks in treatment choices and patient survival by matching comparable patients with doctors and admission periods to control unobserved doctor quality. Physician-patients are less likely to have surgery, radiation, or checkups and more likely to receive targeted therapy, spend more on drugs, enjoy a higher survival rate, and spend less on coinsurance than non-physician-patients. Knowledge mechanisms play a crucial role because the network effect explains some, but not all, patterns. For less informed physician-patients, possessing a network is equivalent to reducing medical knowledge.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Stacey H. & Chen, Jennjou & Chuang, Hongwei & Lin, Tzu-Hsin, 2023. "Physicians Treating Physicians: Relational and Informational Advantages in Treatment and Survival," IZA Discussion Papers 16048, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16048
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp16048.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Earle & Karl Schmedders & Tymon Tatur, 2007. "On Price Caps Under Uncertainty," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(1), pages 93-111.
    2. Jonathan Reuter, 2006. "Are IPO Allocations for Sale? Evidence from Mutual Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(5), pages 2289-2324, October.
    3. Bart J. Bronnenberg & Jean-Pierre Dubé & Matthew Gentzkow & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2015. "Do Pharmacists Buy Bayer? Informed Shoppers and the Brand Premium," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1669-1726.
    4. Oriana Bandiera & Iwan Barankay & Imran Rasul, 2009. "Social Connections and Incentives in the Workplace: Evidence From Personnel Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(4), pages 1047-1094, July.
    5. Ahn, Seung C. & Lee, Young H. & Schmidt, Peter, 2013. "Panel data models with multiple time-varying individual effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 174(1), pages 1-14.
    6. Erin M. Johnson & M. Marit Rehavi, 2016. "Physicians Treating Physicians: Information and Incentives in Childbirth," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 115-141, February.
    7. Hay, Joel & Leahy, Michael J., 1982. "Physician-induced demand : An empirical analysis of the consumer information gap," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 231-244, December.
    8. Amy Finkelstein & Petra Persson & Maria Polyakova & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2022. "A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Guideline Adherence and Access to Expertise," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 507-526, December.
    9. Steven D. Levitt & Chad Syverson, 2008. "Market Distortions When Agents Are Better Informed: The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 599-611, November.
    10. Frakes, Michael & Gruber, Jonathan & Jena, Anupam, 2021. "Is great information good enough? Evidence from physicians as patients," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Leuven, Edwin & Oosterbeek, Hessel & de Wolf, Inge, 2013. "The effects of medical school on health outcomes: Evidence from admission lotteries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 698-707.
    12. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2011. "Bias-Corrected Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 1-11, January.
    13. Erin Johnson & M. Marit Rehavi & David C. Chan, Jr & Daniela Carusi, 2016. "A Doctor Will See You Now: Physician-Patient Relationships and Clinical Decisions," NBER Working Papers 22666, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Chandra, Amitabh & Cutler, David & Song, Zirui, 2011. "Who Ordered That? The Economics of Treatment Choices in Medical Care," Handbook of Health Economics, in: Mark V. Pauly & Thomas G. Mcguire & Pedro P. Barros (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 397-432, Elsevier.
    15. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    16. José‐Miguel Gaspar & Massimo Massa & Pedro Matos, 2006. "Favoritism in Mutual Fund Families? Evidence on Strategic Cross‐Fund Subsidization," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 73-104, February.
    17. C. Kirabo Jackson & Henry S. Schneider, 2011. "Do Social Connections Reduce Moral Hazard? Evidence from the New York City Taxi Industry," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 244-267, July.
    18. Hahn, Jinyong & Kuersteiner, Guido, 2011. "Bias Reduction For Dynamic Nonlinear Panel Models With Fixed Effects," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(6), pages 1152-1191, December.
    19. Grytten, Jostein & Skau, Irene & Sørensen, Rune, 2011. "Do expert patients get better treatment than others? Agency discrimination and statistical discrimination in obstetrics," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 163-180, January.
    20. Eric French & Elaine Kelly & Stacey H. Chen & Hongwei Chuang, 2016. "Recent Trends in Taiwanese Medical Spending," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 37, pages 653-688, September.
    21. Janet Currie & W. Bentley MacLeod, 2008. "First Do No Harm? Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 795-830.
    22. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 235-267, January.
    23. Marcella Alsan & Owen Garrick & Grant Graziani, 2019. "Does Diversity Matter for Health? Experimental Evidence from Oakland," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(12), pages 4071-4111, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Erin M. Johnson & M. Marit Rehavi, 2016. "Physicians Treating Physicians: Information and Incentives in Childbirth," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 115-141, February.
    2. Amy Finkelstein & Petra Persson & Maria Polyakova & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2022. "A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Guideline Adherence and Access to Expertise," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 507-526, December.
    3. Greve, Jane & Kristensen, Søren Rud & Lydiksen, Nis, 2023. "Patient and peer: Guideline design and expert response," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Facchini, Gabriel, 2022. "Low staffing in the maternity ward: Keep calm and call the surgeon," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 370-394.
    5. 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.
    6. Caballero, Julián, 2021. "Corporate dollar debt and depreciations: All’s well that ends well?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    7. Di Giacomo, Marina & Perucca, Giovanni & Piacenza, Massimiliano & Turati, Gilberto, 2024. "Immigrants' clusters and unequal access to healthcare treatments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Heissel, Jennifer, 2016. "The relative benefits of live versus online delivery: Evidence from virtual algebra I in North Carolina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 99-115.
    9. Yihui He & Fang Han, 2023. "On propensity score matching with a diverging number of matches," Papers 2310.14142, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    10. Frakes, Michael & Gruber, Jonathan & Jena, Anupam, 2021. "Is great information good enough? Evidence from physicians as patients," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Lin, Zhexiao & Han, Fang, 2025. "On regression-adjusted imputation estimators of average treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    12. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    13. repec:osf:socarx:3s784_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Persson, Petra & Chen, Yiqun & Polyakova, Maria, 2019. "The Roots of Health Inequality and the Value of Intra-Family Expertise," CEPR Discussion Papers 13583, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Aleksandr Proshin & Alexandre Cazenave-Lacroutz & Zeynep Or & Lise Rochaix, 2018. "Impact of Diagnosis Related Group Refinement on the Choice Between Scheduled Caesarean Section and Normal Delivery: Recent Evidence from France," PSE Working Papers halshs-01812107, HAL.
    16. De Luca, Giacomo & Lisi, Domenico & Martorana, Marco & Siciliani, Luigi, 2021. "Does higher Institutional Quality improve the Appropriateness of Healthcare Provision?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    17. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4ec86lkes59hv9tfv77ld1p5fr is not listed on IDEAS
    18. David Card & Alessandra Fenizia & David Silver, 2023. "The Health Impacts of Hospital Delivery Practices," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 42-81, May.
    19. Fiva, Jon H. & Hægeland, Torbjørn & Rønning, Marte & Syse, Astri, 2014. "Access to treatment and educational inequalities in cancer survival," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 98-111.
    20. Anup Agrawal & Tommy Cooper & Qin Lian & Qiming Wang, 2013. "Common Advisers in Mergers and Acquisitions: Determinants and Consequences," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 691-740.
    21. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cagé & Michael Sinkinson, 2024. "Media Competition and News Diets," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 62-102, May.
    22. Amanda Dahlstrand, 2022. "Defying distance? The provision of services in the digital age," CEP Discussion Papers dp1889, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16048. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.