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A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Guideline Adherence and Access to Expertise

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  • Amy Finkelstein
  • Petra Persson
  • Maria Polyakova
  • Jesse M. Shapiro

Abstract

We use administrative data from Sweden to study adherence to 63 medication-related guidelines. We compare the adherence of patients without personal access to medical expertise to that of patients with access, namely doctors and their close relatives. We estimate that observably similar patients with access to expertise have 3.8 percentage points lower adherence, relative to a baseline adherence rate of 54.4 percent among those without access. Our findings suggest an important role in non-adherence for factors other than those, such as ignorance, poor communication, and complexity, that would be expected to diminish with access to expertise.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy Finkelstein & Petra Persson & Maria Polyakova & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2021. "A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Guideline Adherence and Access to Expertise," NBER Working Papers 29356, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29356
    Note: AG CH EH PE LS
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    Cited by:

    1. Greve, Jane & Kristensen, Søren Rud & Lydiksen, Nis, 2023. "Patient and peer: Guideline design and expert response," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
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    3. Jena, Anupam B. & Slusky, David & Springer, Lilly, 2023. "Occupational Hazard? An Analysis of Birth Outcomes among Physician Mothers," IZA Discussion Papers 16655, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Chen, Stacey H. & Chen, Jennjou & Chuang, Hongwei & Lin, Tzu-Hsin, 2023. "Physicians Treating Physicians: Relational and Informational Advantages in Treatment and Survival," IZA Discussion Papers 16048, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Amanda Dahlstrand, 2022. "Defying distance? The provision of services in the digital age," CEP Discussion Papers dp1889, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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