IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v113y2013i1p142-150.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of regulated competition on key outcomes of care: Cataract surgeries in the Netherlands

Author

Listed:
  • Heijink, Richard
  • Mosca, Ilaria
  • Westert, Gert

Abstract

Similar to several other countries, the Netherlands implemented market-oriented health care reforms in recent years. Previous studies raised questions on the effects of these reforms on key outcomes such as quality, costs, and prices. The empirical evidence is up to now mixed. This study looked at the variation in prices, volume, and quality of cataract surgeries since the introduction of price competition in 2006. We found no price convergence over time and constant price differences between hospitals. Quality indicators generally showed positive results in cataract care, though the quality and scope of the indicators was suboptimal at this stage. Furthermore, we found limited between-hospital variation in quality and there was no clear-cut relation between prices and quality. Volume of cataract care strongly increased in the period studied. These findings indicate that health insurers may not have been able to drive prices down, make trade-offs between price and quality, and selectively contract health care without usable quality information. Positive results coming out from the 2006 reform should not be taken for granted. Looking forward, future research on similar topics and with newer data should clarify the extent to which these findings can be generalized.

Suggested Citation

  • Heijink, Richard & Mosca, Ilaria & Westert, Gert, 2013. "Effects of regulated competition on key outcomes of care: Cataract surgeries in the Netherlands," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 142-150.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:113:y:2013:i:1:p:142-150
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2013.06.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851013001656
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2013.06.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Street, Andrew & Sivey, Peter & Mason, Anne & Miraldo, Marisa & Siciliani, Luigi, 2010. "Are English treatment centres treating less complex patients?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 150-157, February.
    2. Martin Gaynor & Rodrigo Moreno-Serra & Carol Propper, 2013. "Death by Market Power: Reform, Competition, and Patient Outcomes in the National Health Service," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 134-166, November.
    3. Rudy Douven & Remco Mocking & Ilaria Mosca, 2012. "The Effect of Physician Fees and Density Differences on Regional Variation in Hospital Treatments," CPB Discussion Paper 208, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    4. Wynand P. M. M. Van de Ven & Frederik T. Schut, 2009. "Managed competition in the Netherlands: still work‐in‐progress," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(3), pages 253-255, March.
    5. Nazmi Sari, 2002. "Do competition and managed care improve quality?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(7), pages 571-584, October.
    6. Street, Andrew & Maynard, Alan, 2007. "Activity based financing in England: the need for continual refinement of payment by results," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 419-427, October.
    7. van de Ven, Wynand P.M.M. & Beck, Konstantin & Buchner, Florian & Schokkaert, Erik & Schut, F.T. (Erik) & Shmueli, Amir & Wasem, Juergen, 2013. "Preconditions for efficiency and affordability in competitive healthcare markets: Are they fulfilled in Belgium, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 226-245.
    8. Schut, Frederik T. & van de Ven, Wynand P. M. M., 2011. "Effects of purchaser competition in the Dutch health system: is the glass half full or half empty?," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 109-123, January.
    9. Dranove, David & Satterthwaite, Mark A., 2000. "The industrial organization of health care markets," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 20, pages 1093-1139, Elsevier.
    10. Robinson, James C. & Luft, Harold S., 1985. "The impact of hospital market structure on patient volume, average length of stay, and the cost of care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 333-356, December.
    11. Daniel P. Kessler & Mark B. McClellan, 2000. "Is Hospital Competition Socially Wasteful?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 577-615.
    12. Bevan, Gwyn & van de Ven, Wynand P. M. M., 2010. "Choice of providers and mutual healthcare purchasers: can the English National Health Service learn from the Dutch reforms?1," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 343-363, July.
    13. Anil Bamezai & Jack Zwanziger & Glenn A. Melnick & Joyce M. Mann, 1999. "Price competition and hospital cost growth in the United States (1989–1994)," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(3), pages 233-243, May.
    14. Bevan, Gwyn & Skellern, Matthew, 2011. "Does competition between hospitals improve clinical quality?: a review of evidence from two eras of competition in the English NHS," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 40065, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rudy Douven & Monique Burger & Erik Schut, 2018. "Does managed competition constrain hospitals’ contract prices? Evidence from the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Paper 378, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    2. Suzanne Ruwaard & Rudy Douven, 2014. "Quality and hospital choice for cataract treatments: the winner takes most," CPB Discussion Paper 272, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    3. Siciliani, Luigi & Chalkley, Martin & Gravelle, Hugh, 2017. "Policies towards hospital and GP competition in five European countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 103-110.
    4. Westra, Daan & Angeli, Federica & Carree, Martin & Ruwaard, Dirk, 2017. "Understanding competition between healthcare providers: Introducing an intermediary inter-organizational perspective," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 149-157.
    5. R. R. Croes & Y. J. F. M. Krabbe-Alkemade & M. C. Mikkers, 2018. "Competition and quality indicators in the health care sector: empirical evidence from the Dutch hospital sector," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(1), pages 5-19, January.
    6. Anne-Fleur Roos & Eddy van Doorslaer & Owen O'Donnell & Erik Schut & Marco Varkevisser, 2018. "Does price competition damage healthcare quality?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-040/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    7. Rudy Douven & Monique Burger & Erik Schut, 2018. "Does managed competition constrain hospitals’ contract prices? Evidence from the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Paper 378.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    8. Chiara Brouns & Rudy Douven & Ron Kemp, 2021. "Prices and market power in mental health care: Evidence from a major policy change in the Netherlands," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 803-819, April.
    9. Dohmen, Peter J.G. & van Raaij, Erik M., 2019. "A new approach to preferred provider selection in health care," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(3), pages 300-305.
    10. Roos, Anne-Fleur & O’Donnell, Owen & Schut, Frederik T. & Van Doorslaer, Eddy & Van Gestel, Raf & Varkevisser, Marco, 2020. "Does price deregulation in a competitive hospital market damage quality?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Schut, Frederik T. & Varkevisser, Marco, 2017. "Competition policy for health care provision in the Netherlands," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 126-133.
    12. Chiara Brouns & Rudy Douven & Ron Kemp, 2021. "Prices and market power in mental health care: Evidence from a major policy change in the Netherlands," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 803-819, April.
    13. Suzanne Ruwaard & Rudy Douven, 2014. "Quality and hospital choice for cataract treatments: the winner takes most," CPB Discussion Paper 272.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zack Cooper & Stephen Gibbons & Simon Jones & Alistair McGuire, 2011. "Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence From The English NHS Patient Choice Reforms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(554), pages 228-260, August.
    2. Anne-Fleur Roos & Eddy van Doorslaer & Owen O'Donnell & Erik Schut & Marco Varkevisser, 2018. "Does price competition damage healthcare quality?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-040/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Roos, Anne-Fleur & O’Donnell, Owen & Schut, Frederik T. & Van Doorslaer, Eddy & Van Gestel, Raf & Varkevisser, Marco, 2020. "Does price deregulation in a competitive hospital market damage quality?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Westra, Daan & Angeli, Federica & Carree, Martin & Ruwaard, Dirk, 2017. "Understanding competition between healthcare providers: Introducing an intermediary inter-organizational perspective," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 149-157.
    5. Pan, Jay & Qin, Xuezheng & Li, Qian & Messina, Joseph P. & Delamater, Paul L., 2015. "Does hospital competition improve health care delivery in China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 179-199.
    6. Martin Gaynor, "undated". "What Do We Know About Competition and Quality in Health Care Markets?," GSIA Working Papers 2006-E62, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    7. Giuseppe Moscelli & Hugh Gravelle & Luigi Siciliani, 2016. "Market structure, patient choice and hospital quality for elective patients," Working Papers 139cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    8. Cooper, Zack & Gibbons, Stephen & Skellern, Matthew, 2018. "Does competition from private surgical centres improve public hospitals' performance? Evidence from the English National Health Service," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 63-80.
    9. Y. J. F. M. Krabbe-Alkemade & T. L. C. M. Groot & M. Lindeboom, 2017. "Competition in the Dutch hospital sector: an analysis of health care volume and cost," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(2), pages 139-153, March.
    10. Michiel Bijlsma & Pierre Koning & Victoria Shestalova, 2013. "The Effect of Competition on Process and Outcome Quality of Hospital Care in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 121-155, June.
    11. Francesco Longo & Luigi Siciliani & Giuseppe Moscelli & Hugh Gravelle, 2019. "Does hospital competition improve efficiency? The effect of the patient choice reform in England," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 618-640, May.
    12. Gaynor, Martin & Town, Robert J., 2011. "Competition in Health Care Markets," Handbook of Health Economics, in: Mark V. Pauly & Thomas G. Mcguire & Pedro P. Barros (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 499-637, Elsevier.
    13. Francesco Longo & Luigi Siciliani & Hugh Gravelle & Rita Santos, 2017. "Do hospitals respond to rivals' quality and efficiency? A spatial panel econometric analysis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S2), pages 38-62, September.
    14. Carol Propper & Deborah Wilson & Simon Burgess, 2005. "Extending Choice In English Health Care: The implications of the economic evidence," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 05/133, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    15. Hugh Gravelle & Rita Santos & Luigi Siciliani & Rosalind Goudie, 2012. "Hospital Quality Competition Under Fixed Prices," Working Papers 080cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    16. Hugh Gravelle & Rita Santos & Luigi Siciliani, 2013. "Does a hospitals quality depend on the quality of other hospitals? A spatial econometrics approach to investigating hospital quality competition," Working Papers 082cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    17. Kelly, Elaine & Stoye, George, 2020. "The impacts of private hospital entry on the public market for elective care in England," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Polsky, Daniel & David, Guy & Yang, Jianing & Kinosian, Bruce & Werner, Rachel M., 2014. "The effect of entry regulation in the health care sector: The case of home health," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 1-14.
    19. Melnick, Glenn & Keeler, Emmett, 2007. "The effects of multi-hospital systems on hospital prices," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 400-413, March.
    20. Martin Gaynor & Kate Ho & Robert J. Town, 2015. "The Industrial Organization of Health-Care Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(2), pages 235-284, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regulated competition; Contract prices; Price; Volume; Quality of care; Cataract surgery;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:113:y:2013:i:1:p:142-150. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.