Department Economics, Paderborn University, Germany.
RWI - Leibniz Instutite For Economic Research, Germany.
Health Econ. 2020 Jul;29(7):766-777. doi: 10.1002/hec.4018. Epub 2020 Apr 14.
Quality report cards addressing information asymmetry in the health care market have become a popular strategy used by policymakers to improve the quality of care for older people. Using individual level data from the largest German sickness fund merged with institutional level data, we examine the relationship between reported nursing home quality, as measured by recently introduced report cards, nursing home prices, nursing home's location, and the individual choice of nursing homes. Report cards were stepwise introduced as of 2009, and we use a sample of 2010 that includes both homes that had been evaluated at that time and that had not yet been. Thus, we can distinguish between institutions with above and below average ratings as well as nonrated nursing homes. We find that the probability of choosing a nursing home decreases in distance and price. However, we find no economically significant effect of reported quality on individuals' choice of nursing homes.
质量报告卡解决医疗保健市场中的信息不对称问题已成为政策制定者用来提高老年人护理质量的一种流行策略。我们使用来自德国最大的疾病基金的个人层面数据与机构层面数据进行合并，研究了报告的养老院质量（通过最近推出的报告卡来衡量）、养老院价格、养老院位置与个人选择养老院之间的关系。报告卡自 2009 年逐步推出，我们使用了包括当时已评估和尚未评估的养老院的 2010 年样本。因此，我们可以区分评级高于平均水平和低于平均水平的机构以及未评级的养老院。我们发现，选择养老院的概率与距离和价格成反比。然而，我们没有发现报告的质量对个人选择养老院有任何显著的经济影响。
