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Economies of scale and scope in the provision of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals

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  • Ricardo Gonçalves

    (Faculdade de Economia e Gestão - Universidade Católica Portuguesa - Porto)

  • Pedro Pita Barros

    (Faculdade de Economia - Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

Abstract

This paper analyses the provision of auxiliary clinical services that are typically carried out within the hospital. We estimate a flexible cost function for the three most important (cost- wise) diagnostic techniques and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals: Clinical Pathology, Medical Imaging and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Our objective in carrying out this estimation is the evaluation of economies of scale and scope in the provision of these services. For all services, we find evidence of ray economies of scale and some evidence of economies of scope. These results have important policy implications and can be related to the ongoing discussion of where and how should hospitals provide these services.

Suggested Citation

  • Ricardo Gonçalves & Pedro Pita Barros, 2009. "Economies of scale and scope in the provision of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 04, Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
    • Handle: RePEc:cap:wpaper:042009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian McRae & Jens O. Brunner & Jonathan F. Bard, 2020. "Analyzing economies of scale and scope in hospitals by use of case mix planning," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 80-101, March.
    2. Kao, Chiang & Pang, Rui-Zhi & Liu, Shiang-Tai & Bai, Xue-Jie, 2021. "Optimal expansion paths for hospitals of different types: Viewpoint of scope economies and evidence from Chinese hospitals," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 289(2), pages 628-638.
    3. Ricardo Gonçalves & Pedro Pita Barros, 2013. "Economies of scale and scope in the provision of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 415-433, February.
    4. Helda Azevedo & Céu Mateus, 2014. "Cost effects of hospital mergers in Portugal," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 15(9), pages 999-1010, December.
    5. Monica Giancotti & Annamaria Guglielmo & Marianna Mauro, 2017. "Efficiency and optimal size of hospitals: Results of a systematic search," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-40, March.
    6. Ferreira, D.C. & Marques, R.C. & Nunes, A.M., 2018. "Economies of scope in the health sector: The case of Portuguese hospitals," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(2), pages 716-735.
    7. Galina Besstremyannaya, 2015. "Heterogeneous effect of residency matching and prospective payment on labor returns and hospital scale economies," Discussion Papers 15-001, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    8. Barros, Pedro Pita, 2017. "Competition policy for health care provision in Portugal," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 141-148.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    translog cost function; economies of scale; economies of scope; clinical services; hospitals;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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