Research Department, Social Insurance Institution of Finland, P.O. Box 450, 00056, Helsinki, Finland.
Department of Health and Social Management, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland.
Int J Health Econ Manag. 2021 Jun;21(2):229-245. doi: 10.1007/s10754-020-09293-z. Epub 2021 Jan 19.
We study the relationship between patient choices and provider quality in a rehabilitation service for disabled patients who receive the service frequently but do not have access to quality information. Previous research has found a positive relationship between patient choices and provider quality in health services that patients typically do not have previous experience or use frequently. We contribute by examining choices of new patients and experienced patients who were either forced to switch or actively switched their provider. In the analysis, we combine register data on patients' choices and switches with provider quality data from a competitive bidding, and estimate conditional logit choice models. The results show that all patients prefer high-quality providers within short distances. We find that the willingness to travel for quality is highest among new patients and active switchers. These results suggest that new patients and active switchers compare different alternatives more thoroughly, whereas forced switchers choose their new provider in limited time leading into poorer choices.
我们研究了在一个为残疾患者提供的康复服务中，患者选择与服务质量之间的关系。这些患者经常接受服务，但无法获得质量信息。之前的研究发现，在患者通常没有先前经验或不经常使用的医疗服务中，患者选择与服务质量之间存在正相关关系。我们通过检查新患者和有经验的患者的选择来做出贡献，这些患者要么被迫更换，要么主动更换了他们的服务提供商。在分析中，我们将患者选择和转换的登记数据与竞争招标的服务质量数据相结合，并估计条件逻辑选择模型。结果表明，所有患者都更喜欢短距离内的高质量服务提供商。我们发现，新患者和主动转换者对高质量服务的出行意愿最高。这些结果表明，新患者和主动转换者更彻底地比较了不同的选择，而被迫转换者在有限的时间内选择他们的新提供商，导致选择较差。
