Estimating Heterogeneity in the Benefits of Medical Treatment Intensity / William N. Evans, Craig L. Garthwaite.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Evans, William N.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Garthwaite, Craig L.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w15309.

NBER working paper series no. w15309

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.

Summary:

Federal and state laws passed in the late 1990 increased considerably postpartum stays for newborns. Using all births in California over the 1995-2001 period, 2SLS estimates suggest that for the average newborn impacted by the law, increased treatment intensity had modest and statistically insignificant (p-value>0.05) impacts on readmission probabilities. Allowing the treatment effect to vary by pre-existing conditions or the pre-law propensity score of being discharged early, two objective measures of medical need, demonstrates that the law had large and statistically significant impacts for those with the greatest likelihood of a readmission. These results demonstrate heterogeneity in the returns to greater treatment intensity, and the returns to the average and marginal patient vary considerably.

Notes:

Print version record

September 2009.