Arbeitspapier

Physician Payment Mechanisms, Hospital Length of Stay and Risk of Readmission: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

We provide an analysis of the effect of physician payment methods on their hospital patients' length of stay and risk of readmission. To do so, we exploit a major reform implemented in Quebec (Canada) in 1999. The Quebec Government introduced an optional mixed compensation (MC) scheme for specialist physicians working in hospital. This scheme combines a fixed per diem with a reduced fee for services provided, as an alternative to the traditional fee-for- service system. We develop a model of a physician's decision to choose the MC scheme. We show that a physician who adopts this system will have incentives to increase his time per clinical service provided. We demonstrate that as long as this effect does not improve his patients' health by more than a critical level, they will stay more days in hospital over the period. At the empirical level, we estimate a model of transition between spells in and out of hospital analog to a difference-in-differences approach. We find that the hospital length of stay of patients treated in departments that opted for the MC system increased on average by 5.3% (0.35 days). However, the risk of readmission to the same department with the same diagnosis does not appear to be overall affected by the reform.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 7835

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
Health: General
Health Behavior
Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
Thema
physician payment mechanisms
mixed compensation
hospital length of stay
risk of re-hospitalisation
duration model
natural experiment

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Échevin, Damien
Fortin, Bernard
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
(wo)
Bonn
(wann)
2013

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
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Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Échevin, Damien
  • Fortin, Bernard
  • Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Entstanden

  • 2013

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