Demand for and Regulation of Cardiac Services

Efforts to regionalize cardiac services can increase access costs for patients. This study quantifies this trade off by estimating the effects of changes in the regulation of hospital services on treatments and outcomes. A demand model for surgery services is specified in which heart attack victims form expectations of the need for and productivity of surgery in their choice of hospital and treatment. The results indicate that mortality is relatively insensitive to moderate changes in policy: changes in travel costs and volume offset one another. Despite similar health outcomes, the competing policies have different implications for taxpayers.heart attack, Medicare, dynamic discrete choice estimation

Regionalization of Cardiac Services and the Responsiveness of Treatment Choices

Efforts to regionalize cardiac services can increase access costs for patients. This study is the first to quantify this trade off by estimating a demand model for surgery services that is used simulate the effect of centralization of cardiac services on hospital and treatment choices. The model is estimated using a sample of Medicare beneficiaries from the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project. Regulation policies that alter both the quality of providers and access to the providers, such as minimum volume thresholds, need to consider that patients will respond to changes in both dimensions.heart attack, Medicare, volume, discrete choice estimation

Demand for and Regulation of Cardiac Services

Efforts to regionalize cardiac services can increase access costs for patients. This study quantifies this trade off by estimating the effects of changes in the regulation of hospital services on treatments and outcomes. A demand model for surgery services is specified in which heart attack victims form expectations of the need for and productivity of surgery in their choice of hospital and treatment. The results indicate that mortality is relatively insensitive to moderate changes in policy: changes in travel costs and volume offset one another. Despite similar health outcomes, the competing policies have different implications for taxpayers.heart attack, Medicare, dynamic discrete choice estimation

Regionalization of Cardiac Services and the Responsiveness of Treatment Choices

Efforts to regionalize cardiac services can increase access costs for patients. This study is the first to quantify this trade off by estimating a demand model for surgery services that is used simulate the effect of centralization of cardiac services on hospital and treatment choices. The model is estimated using a sample of Medicare beneficiaries from the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project. Regulation policies that alter both the quality of providers and access to the providers, such as minimum volume thresholds, need to consider that patients will respond to changes in both dimensions.heart attack, Medicare, volume, discrete choice estimation

Litigation and the Political Clout of the Tobacco Companies: Cigarette Taxes, Prices, and the Master Settlement Agreement

The goal of our empirical analysis is to assess whether the changes in cigarette excise taxes and cigarette prices can be attributed to litigation brought by the states and the resulting settlements, holding other factors constant. Using pre-post as well as state excise taxes on beer as controls, the evidence provides support for the view that litigation changes the political equilibrium: state cigarette excise taxes were approximately $0.10 higher in the post-MSA period. For tobacco prices, the increases are attributable to the method the settlement used to structure payments as well as the market structure of the cigarette industry.Master Settlement Agreement, excise tax, tobacco

Breast Cancer in Young Women

Little is known about the effect of breast cancers on health-related quality of life among women diagnosed between age 18 and 44 years. The goal of this study is to estimate the effect of breast cancer on health state utility by age at diagnosis (18–44 years versus ≥45 years) and by race/ethnicity

Are state laws granting pharmacists authority to vaccinate associated with HPV vaccination rates among adolescents?

We explored whether state laws allowing pharmacists to administer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations to adolescents are associated with a higher likelihood of HPV vaccine uptake

Who Treats Patients with Diabetes and Compensated Cirrhosis

Increasingly, patients with multiple chronic conditions are being managed in patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) that coordinate primary and specialty care. However, little is known about the types of providers treating complex patients with diabetes and compensated cirrhosis