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Who responds to longer wait times? The effects of predicted emergency wait times on the health and volume of patients who present for care

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  • Strobel, Stephenson

Abstract

Healthcare is often free at the point-of-care so that price does not deter patients. However, the dis-utility from waiting for care that often occurs could also lead to deterrence. I investigate responses in the volume and types of patients that demand emergency care when predicted waiting times quasi-randomly change. I leverage a discontinuity to compare emergency sites with similar predicted wait times but with different apparent wait times displayed to patients. I use impulse response functions estimated by local projections to estimate effects of predicted wait times on patient demand for care. An additional thirty minutes of predicted wait time results in 15% fewer waiting patients at urgent cares and 2% fewer waiting patients at emergency departments within three hours of display. Patients that stop using emergency care are also triaged as healthier. However, at very high predicted wait times, there are reductions in demand for all patients including sicker patients.

Suggested Citation

  • Strobel, Stephenson, 2024. "Who responds to longer wait times? The effects of predicted emergency wait times on the health and volume of patients who present for care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:96:y:2024:i:c:s0167629624000432
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102898
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Demand for health; Healthcare technologies; Emergency wait times;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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