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Should I Stay or Should I Go? Hospital Emergency Department Waiting Times and Demand

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  • Peter Sivey

    (Department of Economics and Finance, La Trobe University)

Abstract

In the absence of the price mechanism hospital emergency departments rely on waiting times, alongside prioritisation mechanisms, to restrain demand and clear the market. This paper aims to estimate the relationship between waiting times and demand: by how much is the number of treatments demanded reduced by a higher waiting time, other things equal? I use variation in waiting times for low-urgency patients caused by rare and resource-intensive high-urgency patients to estimate the relationship. I find that when waiting times are higher, more low-urgency patients are deterred from treatment and leave the hospital during the waiting period without being treated. The waiting time elasticity of demand for low-urgency patients is approximately -0.25, and is highest for the lowest-urgency patients and when more substitute forms of care are available. The results imply waiting times play a substantial role in reducing demand from low-urgency patients and large increases in hospital capacity will be necessary to reduce emergency department waiting times.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Sivey, 2016. "Should I Stay or Should I Go? Hospital Emergency Department Waiting Times and Demand," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2016n13, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2016n13
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    File URL: http://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/working_paper_series/wp2016n13.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Agovino, Massimiliano & Musella, Gaetano & Scaletti, Alessandro, 2022. "Equilibrium and efficiency in the first aid services market: The case of the emergency department of Sorrento," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    2. McQuestin, Dana & Noguchi, Masayoshi, 2020. "Worth the wait: The impact of government funding on hospital emergency waiting times," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(12), pages 1340-1344.
    3. Turner, Alex J & Francetic, Igor & Watkinson, Ruth & Gillibrand, Stephanie & Sutton, Matt, 2022. "Socioeconomic inequality in access to timely and appropriate care in emergency departments," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Francetic, Igor & Meacock, Rachel & Sutton, Matt, 2024. "Free-for-all: Does crowding impact outcomes because hospital emergency departments do not prioritise effectively?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. 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).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hospital emergency departments; waiting times; demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets

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