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Information Integration, Coordination Failures, and Quality of Prescribing

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  • Böckerman, Petri
  • Laine, Liisa T.
  • Nurminen, Mikko
  • Saxell, Tanja

Abstract

Poor information flows hamper coordination, potentially leading to suboptimal decisions in health care. We examine the effects of a nationwide policy of information integration on the quality of prescribing. We use the rollout of an electronic prescribing system in Finland and prescription-level administrative data. We find no effect on the probability of co-prescribing harmful drug combinations in urban regions. In rural regions, this probability reduces substantially, by 35 percent. The effect is driven by prescriptions from unspecialized physicians and from multiple physicians. Improving the local information environment thus enhances coordination and narrows differences in the quality of prescribing.

Suggested Citation

  • Böckerman, Petri & Laine, Liisa T. & Nurminen, Mikko & Saxell, Tanja, 2020. "Information Integration, Coordination Failures, and Quality of Prescribing," Working Papers 135, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:fer:wpaper:135
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health information technology; digitalization; e-prescribing; integration; quality of prescribing; public policy; Local public finance and provision of public services; H51; H75; Terveyspalvelut;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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