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Team Formation and Performance: Evidence from Healthcare Referral Networks

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Listed:
  • Leila Agha
  • Keith Marzilli Ericson
  • Kimberley H. Geissler
  • James B. Rebitzer

Abstract

How does team-specific capital affect productivity? We examine the teams that primary care physicians (PCPs) assemble when referring patients to specialists. Our theoretical model finds that team-specific capital is greater when PCPs concentrate their referrals within a smaller set of specialists. Empirically, we find patients of PCPs with concentrated referrals have lower healthcare costs, with no discernable reduction in quality. This effect exists for commercially insured and Medicare populations; is statistically and economically significant; and holds under identification strategies that account for unobserved patient and physician characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Leila Agha & Keith Marzilli Ericson & Kimberley H. Geissler & James B. Rebitzer, 2018. "Team Formation and Performance: Evidence from Healthcare Referral Networks," NBER Working Papers 24338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24338
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Leila Agha & Keith Marzilli Ericson & Xiaoxi Zhao, 2023. "The Impact of Organizational Boundaries on Health Care Coordination and Utilization," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 184-214, August.
    2. Leila Agha & Keith Marzilli Ericson & Kimberley H. Geissler & James B. Rebitzer, 2022. "Team Relationships and Performance: Evidence from Healthcare Referral Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3735-3754, May.
    3. Fadlon, Itzik & Van Parys, Jessica, 2020. "Primary care physician practice styles and patient care: Evidence from physician exits in Medicare," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Petri Böckerman & Liisa T. Laine & Mikko Nurminen & Tanja Saxell, 2025. "Information Integration, Coordination Failures, and Quality of Prescribing," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 60(3), pages 1054-1092.
    5. Alessandra Allocca, 2023. "“No Man is an Island”: An Empirical Study on Team Formation and Performance," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 389, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    6. Kimberley H Geissler & Benjamin Lubin & Keith M Marzilli Ericson, 2020. "The association between patient sharing network structure and healthcare costs," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-13, June.
    7. Kimberley H. Geissler & Benjamin Lubin & Keith M. Marzilli Ericson, 2021. "The association of insurance plan characteristics with physician patient-sharing network structure," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 189-201, June.
    8. Agha, Leila & Frandsen, Brigham & Rebitzer, James B., 2019. "Fragmented division of labor and healthcare costs: Evidence from moves across regions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 144-159.
    9. Sebastian Linde, 2019. "The formation of physician patient sharing networks in medicare: Exploring the effect of hospital affiliation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(12), pages 1435-1448, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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