Physician Health Management Skills and Patient Outcomes / Emilia Simeonova, Niels Skipper, Peter R. Thingholm.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Simeonova, Emilia.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Skipper, Niels.

Thingholm, Peter R.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w26735.

NBER working paper series no. w26735

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

A host of different factors affect health and longevity, ranging from genetic endowments to public policy. Physicians have a substantial influence on patients' health and health-related costs, but we know little about the extent of this influence beyond clinical decisions such as adequate diagnosis and treatment. This paper demonstrates that the health management styles of primary care physicians significantly affect the health outcomes of their patients. Using data on the population of statin users in Denmark and matching patients to their primary care physicians, we show that the physician's ability to facilitate adherence with prescription medications has significant positive effects on patient outcomes and health costs even after controlling for observable and unobservable patient characteristics. Policy interventions aimed at improving this aspect of physicians' health management styles have important implications for patient outcomes and health care costs.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2020.