Who is responsible for your health: is it you, your doctor or the new technologies?

Atella, Vincenzo and D'Amico, Francesco (2015) Who is responsible for your health: is it you, your doctor or the new technologies? European Journal of Health Economics, 16 (8). pp. 835-846. ISSN 1618-7598

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Abstract

The aim of the paper is to disentangle the roles that patients, physicians and technology can have on patient health outcomes. The analysis focuses on patients suffering from hypercholesterolemia. Using a large and detailed dataset of patients collected by the Italian College of General Practitioners (SIMG) over the period 2001–2006, we observe the existence of heterogeneity in the time needed to reach an optimal level of health stock. We firstly explore whether patients recovering faster exhibit lower hospitalization rates. Secondly, we study the determinants of the speed of recovery to a good health status. Results suggest that a 10 % increase in the speed of recovery reduces hospitalization rates by 1 % in the general sample and by 1.25 % in patients in primary prevention. Furthermore, we show that recovering to a good health status is a multifaceted phenomenon, with technology explaining from 54 to 68 % of the total effect.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://link.springer.com/journal/10198
Additional Information:	© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Divisions:	Social Policy Personal Social Services Research Unit
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine T Technology > T Technology (General)
JEL classification:	I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I12 - Health Production: Nutrition, Mortality, Morbidity, Suicide, Substance Abuse and Addiction, Disability, and Economic Behavior O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
Date Deposited:	28 Nov 2014 12:20
Last Modified:	05 Apr 2024 05:18
Funders:	Fondazione SIMG (Società Italiana di Medicina Generale)
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/60349

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