Returns to Local-Area Healthcare Spending: Using Health Shocks to Patients far from Home
Name
doyle_vacation_jan2011.pdf
Size
381.63 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
36733276b36c9bf8e36c64f36ace10a2
Author(s)
Doyle, Joseph J.
Date Issued
July 2011
Journal
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Publisher
American Economic Association
Citation
Doyle, Joseph J.. 2011. "Returns to Local-Area Health Care Spending: Evidence from Health Shocks to Patients Far from Home." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(3): 221–43.© 2011 AEA. The American Economic Association
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Health care spending varies widely across markets, and previous research finds little evidence that higher spending translates into better health outcomes. The main innovation in this paper exploits this cross-sectional variation in hospital spending in a new way by considering emergency patients who are exposed to healthcare systems when they are far from home. Visitors to Florida who become ill in high-spending areas have significantly lower mortality rates compared to visitors in lower spending areas. The results are robust within groups of similar visitors and within groups of destinations that appear to be close demand substitutes -- areas that likely attract similar visitors.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1257/app.3.3.221
