Returns to local-area health care spending
Subtitle: using health shocks to patients far from home
By: Joseph J. Doyle, Jr.
Contributors: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 13301.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13301.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 38
Subjects: Medical care, Cost of -- United States; Outcome assessment (Medical care) -- United States -- Econometric models; Medical care -- United States -- Evaluation; Medical economics -- United States
Description: Health care spending varies widely across markets, yet there is little evidence that higher spending translates into better health outcomes, possibly due to endogeneity bias. The main innovation in this paper compares outcomes of patients who are exposed to different health care systems that were not designed for them: patients who are far from home when a health emergency strikes. The universe of emergencies in Florida from 1996-2003 is considered, and visitors who become ill in high-spending areas have significantly lower mortality rates compared to similar visitors in lower-spending areas. The results are robust across different types of patients and within groups of destinations that appear to be close demand substitutes.
Notes: "August 2007."

Includes bibliographical references.

Also available in PDF from the NBER world wide web site (www.nber.org).