Researchers from Erasmus University Report Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Healthcare Economics (Competition and quality…

Health & Medicine Week

Researchers from Erasmus University Report Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Healthcare Economics (Competition and quality indicators in the health care sector: empirical evidence from the Dutch hospital sector)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Week -- Current study results on Health and Medicine - Healthcare Economics have been published. According to news originating from Rotterdam, Netherlands, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, "There is much debate about the effect of competition in healthcare and especially the effect of competition on the quality of healthcare, although empirical evidence on this subject is mixed. The Netherlands provides an interesting case in this debate."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Erasmus University, "The Dutch system could be characterized as a system involving managed competition and mandatory healthcare insurance. Information about the quality of care provided by hospitals has been publicly available since 2008. In this paper, we evaluate the relationship between quality scores for three diagnosis groups and the market power indicators of hospitals. We estimate the impact of competition on quality in an environment of liberalized pricing. For this research, we used unique price and production data relating to three diagnosis groups (cataract, adenoid and tonsils, bladder tumor) produced by Dutch hospitals in the period 2008-2011. We also used the quality indicators relating to these diagnosis groups. We reveal a negative relationship between market share and quality score for two of the three diagnosis groups studied, meaning that hospitals in competitive markets have better quality scores than those in concentrated markets."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "We therefore conclude that more competition is associated with higher quality scores."

For more information on this research see: Competition and quality indicators in the health care sector: empirical evidence from the Dutch hospital sector. European Journal of Health Economics, 2018;19(1):5-19. European Journal of Health Economics can be contacted at: Springer, 233 Spring St, New York, NY 10013, USA. (Springer - www.springer.com; European Journal of Health Economics - www.springerlink.com/content/1618-7598/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from R.R. Croes, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Additional authors for this research include Y. Krabbe-Alkemade and M.C. Mikkers (see also Health and Medicine - Healthcare Economics).

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-016-0862-6. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Rotterdam, Netherlands, Europe, Healthcare Economics, Diagnostics and Screening, Health and Medicine, Hospitals, Erasmus University.