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Socioeconomic Status and Physicians’ Treatment Decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Brekke, Kurt R.

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

  • Holmås, Tor Helge

    (Uni Rokkan Centre)

  • Monstad, Karin

    (Uni Rokkan Centre)

  • Straume, Odd Rune

    (University of Minho and University of Bergen)

Abstract
This paper aims at shedding light on the social gradient by studying the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and provision of health care. Using administrative data on services provided by General Practitioners (GPs) in Norway over a …ve year period (2008- 12), we analyse the quantity, composition and value of services provided by the GPs according to patients’SES measured by education, income or ethnicity. Our data allow us to control for a wide set of patient and GP characteristics. To account for (unobserved) heterogeneity, we limit the sample to patients with a speci…c disease, diabetes type 2, and estimate a model with GP …xed e¤ects. Our results show that patients with low SES visit the GPs more often, but the value of services provided per visit is lower. The composition of services varies with SES, where patients with low education and African or Asian ethnicity receive more medical tests but shorter consultations, whereas patients with low income receive both shorter consultations and fewer tests. Thus, our results show that GPs differentiate services according to SES, but give no clear evidence for a social gradient in health care provision.

Suggested Citation

  • Brekke, Kurt R. & Holmås, Tor Helge & Monstad, Karin & Straume, Odd Rune, 2015. "Socioeconomic Status and Physicians’ Treatment Decisions," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 12/2015, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2015_012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    4. Kaarboe, Oddvar & Siciliani, Luigi, 2023. "Contracts for primary and secondary care physicians and equity-efficiency trade-offs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Sveréus, Sofia & Kjellsson, Gustav & Rehnberg, Clas, 2018. "Socioeconomic distribution of GP visits following patient choice reform and differences in reimbursement models: Evidence from Sweden," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(9), pages 949-956.
    6. Moscelli, Giuseppe & Gravelle, Hugh & Siciliani, Luigi, 2023. "The effect of hospital choice and competition on inequalities in waiting times," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 169-201.
    7. Turner, Alex J & Francetic, Igor & Watkinson, Ruth & Gillibrand, Stephanie & Sutton, Matt, 2022. "Socioeconomic inequality in access to timely and appropriate care in emergency departments," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Socio-economic status; Primary care; General Practitioners.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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