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Sending emails to reduce medical costs? The effect of feedback on general practitioners’ claiming of fees

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  • Aars, Ole Kristian
  • Godager, Geir
  • Kaarboe, Oddvar
  • Moger, Tron Anders

Abstract

Audit and feedback is employed as a strategy to guide practices of health care professionals towards certain targets. The outcome of interest can be quality improvements, but also ensuring that health care workers adhere to relevant regulations. We conducted a nationwide field experiment in the Norwegian primary care sector to study the behavioral responses from giving general practitioners feedback (GPs) on their claiming of fees. The email-based feedback intervention targeted GPs who most frequently claimed fees for double consultations and provided them with a reminder of the formal regulations for double consultations. The intervention caused a 3–4 percentage point reduction in the use of the double-consultation fee, reducing the yearly health care spending of the Norwegian government by approximately €480 000 per year. This substantial and durable behavioral response found in our study sample comprising 15 % of Norwegian GPs, shows that low-cost interventions via email can have significant financial impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Aars, Ole Kristian & Godager, Geir & Kaarboe, Oddvar & Moger, Tron Anders, 2024. "Sending emails to reduce medical costs? The effect of feedback on general practitioners’ claiming of fees," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:109:y:2024:i:c:s2214804324000181
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2024.102178
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health economics; Field experiment; Intervention; General practitioners;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

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