Does P4P improve quality?

Pay-for-performance (P4P) is the latest rage among health wonks as to how to improve the health care system. But does P4P really improve quality? Mullen, Frank and Rosenthal (2008) hope to answer this question. One would initially believe that paying physicians to perform certain medically necessary tasks will improve quality. Further, some P4P involves structural…

Slowing medical CPI may not last

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Medical CPI is only 3.2%.  This is less than the 4.1% average inflation rate over the past ten years and the 6.0% average medical inflation rate over the past 30 years.  In most markets, a slowing economy reduces demand and reduces prices (see the recent decline in oil…

Red Light Special on Breast Augmentation

With the economy in a downturn, many firms have been hard hit.  Industries that sell luxury goods have been especially hard hit.  One example of a luxury good sector taking a beating is the elective surgery market. The New York Times reports that dermatologists, facial surgeons and plastic surgeons have all seen a significant drop in…

Physician Compensation in Canada

Does physician compensation affect the quantity of medical care provided?  My paper “Operating on Commission” claims that the answer is yes.  I find that surgery rates increase 78% when patients switch from capitation to fee-for-service (FFS) specialists. A paper by Devlin and Sarma (2008) examines a similar question for Canadian family physicians.  Since the inception…

Should Medicare pay for nosocomial infections?

Hospital-acquired, or nosocomial, infections are often caused by poor hospital care.  Patients arrive to the hospital and often leave with infections caused by unsanitary hospital conditions.  Should Medicare pay for these hospital-induced health care costs? A knee jerk reaction would be to say no.  If the hospital adversely influence patient health, Medicare or other payors should…

Are Family Physicians good for you?

Does an increase in family physicians (FPs) increase individual health? A naive research might believe that we could uncover whether or not this was true by comparing the average health levels of areas with lots of doctors with the average health levels of areas with few doctors. However, doctors often work where there are lots…

Hospital Wristbands

The N.Y. Times writes about how hospitals have standardized patient warning wristbands.  Now, red wristbands will denote an allergy risk, yellow will denote a fall risk, and so on.  This should be the same at all hospitals, reducing the need to re-train nurses and other hospital staff who move between hospitals. “The drive [to standardize…