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Physician investment in hospitals: Specialization, selection, and quality in cardiac care

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  • Swanson, Ashley

Abstract

Physician ownership of hospitals involves several competing economic forces. Physician-owners may be incentivized to “cherry-pick” and treat profitable patients at their facilities. However, physician-owned hospitals are often specialized and may provide higher-quality care for well-matched patients. Using multiple identification approaches, I document no significant mortality improvement for cardiac patients treated at physician-owned hospitals. Using aggregate data on ownership to infer physician-owner preferences in a hospital choice model, my results rule out significant cherry-picking within physician-owners’ patient populations. However, both facility location and a healthier overall patient population among physician-owners drive advantageous selection of patients into physician-owned hospitals.

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  • Swanson, Ashley, 2021. "Physician investment in hospitals: Specialization, selection, and quality in cardiac care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:80:y:2021:i:c:s0167629621001041
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102519
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