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Socioeconomic Status and PhysiciansíTreatment Decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Kurt R. Brekke

    (Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics)

  • Tor Helge Holmäs

    (Uni Rokkan Centre; and Health Economics Bergen (HEB))

  • Karin Monstad

    (Uni Rokkan Centre; and Health Economics Bergen (HEB))

  • Odd Rune Straume

    (Universidade do Minho - NIPE)

Abstract

This paper aims at shedding light on the social gradient by studying the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and provision of health care. Using administrative data on services provided by General Practitioners (GPs) in Norway over a five year period (2008-12), we analyse the quantity, composition and value of services provided by the GPs according to patients' SES measured by education, income or ethnicity. Our data allow us to control for a wide set of patient and GP characteristics. To account for (unobserved) heterogeneity, we limit the sample to patients with a specific disease, diabetes type 2, and estimate a model with GP fixed effects. Our results show that patients with low SES visit the GPs more often, but the value of services provided per visit is lower. The composition of services varies with SES, where patients with low education and African or Asian ethnicity receive more medical tests but shorter consultations, whereas patients with low income receive both shorter consultations and fewer tests. Thus, our results show that GPs differentiate services according to SES, but give no clear evidence for a social gradient in health care provision.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurt R. Brekke & Tor Helge Holmäs & Karin Monstad & Odd Rune Straume, 2015. "Socioeconomic Status and PhysiciansíTreatment Decisions," NIPE Working Papers 5/2015, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    • Handle: RePEc:nip:nipewp:5/2015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Sveréus, Sofia & Kjellsson, Gustav & Rehnberg, Clas, 2018. "Socioeconomic distribution of GP visits following patient choice reform and differences in reimbursement models: Evidence from Sweden," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(9), pages 949-956.
    4. Moscelli, Giuseppe & Gravelle, Hugh & Siciliani, Luigi, 2023. "The effect of hospital choice and competition on inequalities in waiting times," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 169-201.
    5. Clémence Bussière & Nicolas Sirven & Thomas Rapp & Christine Sevilla‐Dedieu, 2020. "Adherence to medical follow‐up recommendations reduces hospital admissions: Evidence from diabetic patients in France," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 508-522, April.
    6. Turner, Alex J & Francetic, Igor & Watkinson, Ruth & Gillibrand, Stephanie & Sutton, Matt, 2022. "Socioeconomic inequality in access to timely and appropriate care in emergency departments," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Socio-economic status; Primary care; General Practitioners;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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