IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/3301.html

Which doctor? Combining vignettes and item response to measure doctor quality

Author

Listed:
  • Das, Jishnu
  • Hammer, Jeffrey

Abstract

The authors develop a method in which vignettes-a battery of questions for hypothetical cases-are evaluated with item response theory to create a metric for doctor quality. The method allows a simultaneous estimation of quality and validation of the test instrument that can be used for further refinements. The authors apply the method to a sample of medical practitioners in Delhi, India. The method gives plausible results, rationalizes different perceptions of quality in the public and private sectors, and pinpoints several serious problems with health care delivery in urban India. The findings confirm, for instance, that the quality of private providers located in poorer areas of the city is significantly lower than those in richer neighborhoods. Surprisingly, similar results hold for providers in the public sector, with important implications for inequities in the availability of health care.

Suggested Citation

  • Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey, 2004. "Which doctor? Combining vignettes and item response to measure doctor quality," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3301, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3301
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/07/23/000112742_20040723160111/Rendered/PDF/wps3301.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. R. Bock & Murray Aitkin, 1981. "Marginal maximum likelihood estimation of item parameters: Application of an EM algorithm," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 443-459, December.
    2. Paul Collier & Stefan Dercon & John Mackinnon, 2002. "Density versus Quality in Health Care Provision: Using Household Data to Make Budgetary Choices in Ethiopia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 16(3), pages 425-448, December.
    3. Foster, Andrew D, 1995. "Prices, Credit Markets and Child Growth in Low-Income Rural Areas," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(430), pages 551-570, May.
    4. Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey, 2007. "Money for nothing: The dire straits of medical practice in Delhi, India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 1-36, May.
    5. Das, Jishnu & Sanchez-Paramo, Carolina, 2003. "Short but not sweet - new evidence on short duration morbidities from India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2971, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guo Xu, 2013. "Development through Empowerment: Delivering Effective Public Services – a Literature Review," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 382, Asian Development Bank.
    2. Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey & Sánchez-Paramo, Carolina, 2012. "The impact of recall periods on reported morbidity and health seeking behavior," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 76-88.
    3. Godlonton, Susan & Okeke, Edward N., 2016. "Does a ban on informal health providers save lives? Evidence from Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 112-132.
    4. Heather Klemick & Kenneth L. Leonard & Melkiory C. Masatu, 2007. "Defining Access to Health Care: Evidence on the Importance of Quality and Distance in Rural Tanzania," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(2), pages 347-358.
    5. Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey, 2004. "Strained mercy : The quality of medical care in Delhi," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3228, The World Bank.
    6. Adelman, Sarah W. & Essam, Timothy M. & Leonard, Kenneth L., 2008. "Idle Chatter or Learning? Evidence from Rural Tanzania of Social Learning about Clinicians and the Health System," Working Papers 42884, University of Maryland, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    7. Eduardo Fe & Timothy Powell‐Jackson & Winnie Yip, 2017. "Doctor Competence and the Demand for Healthcare: Evidence from Rural China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(10), pages 1177-1190, October.
    8. Barbara McPake & Anthony Scott & Ijeoma Edoka, 2014. "Analyzing Markets for Health Workers : Insights from Labor and Health Economics," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18780, April.
    9. Asian Development Bank (ADB), 2013. "Empowerment and Public Service Delivery in Developing Asia and the Pacific," ADB Reports RPT135565-3, Asian Development Bank (ADB), revised 15 May 2013.
    10. Leonard, Kenneth L., 2009. "The cost of imperfect agency in health care: Evidence from rural Cameroun," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 282-291, March.
    11. World Bank, 2007. "India - Rural Governments and Service Delivery : Volume 3. Main Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 8009, The World Bank Group.
    12. Leonard, Kenneth L. & Masatu, Melkiory C., 2005. "The use of direct clinician observation and vignettes for health services quality evaluation in developing countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 1944-1951, November.
    13. Kjell Hausken & Mthuli Ncube, 2013. "Working Paper 172 - Political Economy of Service Delivery: Monitoring versus Contestation," Working Paper Series 468, African Development Bank.
    14. Leonard, Kenneth L. & Masatu, Melkiory C., 2008. "Professionalism, Latent Professionalism and Organizational Demands for Health Care Quality in a Developing Country," Working Papers 42883, University of Maryland, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    15. World Bank, 2007. "India - Rural governments and Service Delivery : Volume 2. Note," World Bank Publications - Reports 8008, The World Bank Group.
    16. Bold, Tessa & Gauthier, Bernard & Svensson, Jakob & Wane, Waly, 2010. "Delivering service indicators in education and health in Africa : a proposal," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5327, The World Bank.
    17. Alderman, Harold & Das, Jishnu & Rao, Vijayendra, 2013. "Conducting ethical economic research: complications from the field," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6446, The World Bank.

    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. Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey, 2005. "Which doctor? Combining vignettes and item response to measure clinical competence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 348-383, December.
    2. Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey, 2004. "Strained mercy : The quality of medical care in Delhi," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3228, The World Bank.
    3. Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey, 2007. "Money for nothing: The dire straits of medical practice in Delhi, India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 1-36, May.
    4. Das, Jishnu & Hammer, Jeffrey & Sánchez-Paramo, Carolina, 2012. "The impact of recall periods on reported morbidity and health seeking behavior," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 76-88.
    5. Jishnu Das & Stefan Dercon & James Habyarimana & Pramila Krishnan, 2007. "Teacher Shocks and Student Learning: Evidence from Zambia," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(4).
    6. Das, J. & Dercon, S. & Habyarimana, J. & Krishnan, P., 2004. "‘When Can School Inputs Improve Test Scores?’," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0437, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    7. Clara Delavallade, 2017. "Quality Health Care and Willingness to Pay for Health Insurance Retention: A Randomized Experiment in Kolkata Slums," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 619-638, May.
    8. Leonard, Kenneth L., 2009. "The cost of imperfect agency in health care: Evidence from rural Cameroun," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 282-291, March.
    9. Heather Klemick & Kenneth L. Leonard & Melkiory C. Masatu, 2007. "Defining Access to Health Care: Evidence on the Importance of Quality and Distance in Rural Tanzania," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(2), pages 347-358.
    10. Corno, Lucia & Voena, Alessandra, 2023. "Child marriage as informal insurance: Empirical evidence and policy simulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    11. María Fernanda Rosales, 2014. "Impact of Early Life Shocks on Human Capital Formation: El Niño Floods in Ecuador," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 87693, Inter-American Development Bank.
    12. Ying Cheng & Ke-Hai Yuan, 2010. "The Impact of Fallible Item Parameter Estimates on Latent Trait Recovery," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 75(2), pages 280-291, June.
    13. Alexander Robitzsch, 2024. "Bias-Reduced Haebara and Stocking–Lord Linking," J, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-12, September.
    14. Joel A. Martínez-Regalado & Cinthia Leonora Murillo-Avalos & Purificación Vicente-Galindo & Mónica Jiménez-Hernández & José Luis Vicente-Villardón, 2021. "Using HJ-Biplot and External Logistic Biplot as Machine Learning Methods for Corporate Social Responsibility Practices for Sustainable Development," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(20), pages 1-16, October.
    15. Alfredo Paloyo & Arndt Reichert, 2017. "Biting Back at Malaria: Assessing Health-service Providers' Compliance with Treatment Guidelines," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 591-626, August.
    16. Christian Posso & Jorge Tamayo & Arlen Guarin & Estefania Saravia, 2024. "Luck of the Draw: The Causal Effect of Physicians on Birth Outcomes," Borradores de Economia 1269, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    17. Anna D Gage & Margaret E Kruk & Tsinuel Girma & Ephrem T Lemango, 2018. "The know-do gap in sick child care in Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-10, December.
    18. Vitoratou, Silia & Ntzoufras, Ioannis & Moustaki, Irini, 2016. "Explaining the behavior of joint and marginal Monte Carlo estimators in latent variable models with independence assumptions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57685, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Miura, Ken & Sakurai, Takeshi, 2021. "News from the Sky: An Empirical Test of Forward-Looking Behavior Among Zambian Farmers," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315161, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Eastin, Joshua, 2018. "Climate change and gender equality in developing states," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 289-305.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:wbk:wbrwps:3301. 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: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.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.