IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v95y2010i2-3p129-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Physician scarcity is a predictor of further scarcity in US, and a predictor of concentration in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Matsumoto, Masatoshi
  • Inoue, Kazuo
  • Bowman, Robert
  • Noguchi, Satomi
  • Kajii, Eiji

Abstract

Objectives To assess the effects of geographic diffusion of physicians from medically oversupplied toward undersupplied areas driven by economic competition among physicians and political interventions in Japan and US.Methods A quantitative evaluation of physician workforce changes at the community level between 1980 and 2005, using municipality-based (Japan) and county-based (US) census data.Results The overall number of physicians per 100,000 population (physician-to-population ratio: PPR) increased from 130 to 203 in Japan and 158 to 234 in US. In this context, a higher proportion (30.1%) of the quintile communities with lowest PPRs in 1980 has further decreased their PPRs in US than in Japan (21.6% in 2005). In multivariate analysis low PPR was a positive predictor of PPR decrease in the US communities (odds ratio 1.26; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.58), while it was a negative predictor in Japanese communities (0.69; 0.57-0.83).Conclusions Physician scarcity is associated with further scarcity in US communities, while scarcity is associated with recovery from scarcity in Japanese communities. Competition-based physician diffusion strategies and various interventions to address the maldistribution of physicians apparently have not worked effectively in US compared with Japan.

Suggested Citation

  • Matsumoto, Masatoshi & Inoue, Kazuo & Bowman, Robert & Noguchi, Satomi & Kajii, Eiji, 2010. "Physician scarcity is a predictor of further scarcity in US, and a predictor of concentration in Japan," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(2-3), pages 129-136, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:95:y:2010:i:2-3:p:129-136
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168-8510(09)00297-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Matsumoto, Masatoshi & Kajii, Eiji, 2009. "Medical education program with obligatory rural service: Analysis of factors associated with obligation compliance," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(2-3), pages 125-132, May.
    2. Frenzen, P.D., 1991. "The increasing supply of physicians in US urban and rural areas, 1975 to 1988," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 81(9), pages 1141-1147.
    3. Joseph P. Newhouse & Albert P. Williams & Bruce W. Bennett & William B. Schwartz, 1982. "Does the Geographical Distribution of Physicians Reflect Market Failure?," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 493-505, Autumn.
    4. Brown, Malcolm C., 1994. "Using gini-style indices to evaluate the spatial patterns of health practitioners: Theoretical considerations and an application based on Alberta data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 1243-1256, May.
    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. Pedro Ramos & Hélio Alves & Paulo Guimarães & Maria A. Ferreira, 2017. "Junior doctors’ medical specialty and practice location choice: simulating policies to overcome regional inequalities," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(8), pages 1013-1030, November.
    2. Koichiro Yuji & Seiya Imoto & Rui Yamaguchi & Tomoko Matsumura & Naoko Murashige & Yuko Kodama & Satoru Minayo & Kohzoh Imai & Masahiro Kami, 2012. "Forecasting Japan's Physician Shortage in 2035 as the First Full-Fledged Aged Society," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(11), pages 1-8, November.

    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. Matsumoto, Masatoshi & Inoue, Kazuo & Bowman, Robert & Noguchi, Satomi & Toyokawa, Satoshi & Kajii, Eiji, 2010. "Geographical distributions of physicians in Japan and US: Impact of healthcare system on physician dispersal pattern," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 255-261, August.
    2. Kelly Goossens, 2006. "Competitive balance in european football: comparison by adapting measures: national measure of seasonal imbalance and Top 3," Rivista di Diritto ed Economia dello Sport, Centro di diritto e business dello Sport, vol. 2(2), pages 77-122, Dicembre.
    3. Danzon, Patricia M., 2000. "Liability for medical malpractice," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 26, pages 1339-1404, Elsevier.
    4. Ozcan, Yasar A., 1995. "Efficiency of hospital service production in local markets: The balance sheet of U.S. medical armament," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 139-150, June.
    5. Chen, Zhuo & Roy, Kakoli & Haddix, Anne C. & Thacker, Stephen B., 2010. "Factors associated with differences in mortality and self-reported health across states in the United States," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 203-210, March.
    6. Aliasghar A. Kiadaliri & Reza Hosseinpour & Hassan Haghparast-Bidgoli & Ulf-G Gerdtham, 2013. "Pure and Social Disparities in Distribution of Dentists: A Cross-Sectional Province-Based Study in Iran," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    7. Polsky, Daniel & Kletke, Phillip R. & Wozniak, Gregory D. & Escarce, Jose J., 2000. "HMO penetration and the geographic mobility of practicing physicians," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 793-809, September.
    8. Mougeot, Michel & Naegelen, Florence, 2018. "Achieving a fair geographical distribution of health-care resources," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 384-392.
    9. Welch, Timothy F., 2013. "Equity in transport: The distribution of transit access and connectivity among affordable housing units," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 283-293.
    10. Martin Lábaj & Peter Silanič & Christoph Weiss & Biliana Yontcheva, 2018. "Market structure and competition in the healthcare industry," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(8), pages 1087-1110, November.
    11. Welch, Timothy F. & Mishra, Sabyasachee, 2013. "A measure of equity for public transit connectivity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 29-41.
    12. Sandra Nocera & Gabrielle Wanzenried, 2002. "On the Dynamics of Physician Density; Theory and Empirical Evidence for Switzerland," Diskussionsschriften dp0208, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    13. Isabel Correia & Paula Veiga, 2010. "Geographic distribution of physicians in Portugal," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 11(4), pages 383-393, August.
    14. Martin Gaynor & Deborah Haas-Wilson, 1999. "Change, Consolidation, and Competition in Health Care Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 141-164, Winter.
    15. Bosch, Maria José & Heras, Mireia Las & Russo, Marcello & Rofcanin, Yasin & Grau i Grau, Marc, 2018. "How context matters: The relationship between family supportive supervisor behaviours and motivation to work moderated by gender inequality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 46-55.
    16. Guzman, Luis A. & Oviedo, Daniel & Rivera, Carlos, 2017. "Assessing equity in transport accessibility to work and study: The Bogotá region," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 236-246.
    17. Malte Luebker, 2014. "Income Inequality, Redistribution, and Poverty: Contrasting Rational Choice and Behavioral Perspectives," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(1), pages 133-154, March.
    18. Anwar Shaikh, 2018. "Some Universal Patterns in Income Distribution: An Econophysics Approach," Working Papers 1808, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    19. Burkey, M.L. & Bhadury, J. & Eiselt, H.A., 2012. "A location-based comparison of health care services in four U.S. states with efficiency and equity," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 157-163.
    20. Michela Pierini, 2011. "Diritti Tv E Competitive Balance Nel Calcio Professionistico Italiano," Rivista di Diritto ed Economia dello Sport, Centro di diritto e business dello Sport, vol. 7(2), pages 87-113, September.

    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:95:y:2010:i:2-3:p:129-136. 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.