HCHE Research Paper: Do patients benefit from competition in the outpatient sector?

28 April 2022, by Andrea Bükow

Photo: HCHE / Gregor Schläger

How does competition between physicians affect the provision of medical care? In a controlled laboratory experiment, this has now been investigated for different patient groups (choice of practice based on treatment quality or not, and frequency of medical services needed). The key finding is that competition has a positive impact on the quality of care for patients who made decisions based on information about treatment quality. However, this is accompanied by inequalities between different groups of patients if they are not free to choose. Therefore, policy measures that, for example, reduce transport costs to the nearest doctor's office (as is possible through telemedicine or eHealth) or facilitate access to information can have positive effects on competition.

To the HCHE Research Paper: Who benefits from quality competition in health care? A theory and a laboratory experiment on the relevance of patient characteristics

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