Health Care Management Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
5-2011
Publication Source
International Journal of Industrial Organization
Volume
29
Issue
3
Start Page
342
Last Page
344
DOI
10.1016/j.ijindorg.2011.01.003
Abstract
This paper seeks to understand the impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program on rural resident hospital choice. The program created a new class of hospital, the Critical Access Hospital (CAH), which receives more generous reimbursement in return for limiting its beds and services. The program's goal is to maintain access to hospital care. Estimates from a patient choice model show that patient utility from visiting a hospital was negatively a ected by conversion. While the lower bed capacity appears to play a minor role, the reduction in services results in a 28 percent drop in admission rates.
Copyright/Permission Statement
© . This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Keywords
hospital choice, patient welfare, medicare
Recommended Citation
Gowrisankaran, G., Lucarelli, C., Schmidt-Dengler, P., & Town, R. (2011). The Impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program on Patient Choice. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 29 (3), 342-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2011.01.003
Included in
Health Economics Commons, Health Services Administration Commons, Other Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, Other Public Health Commons
Date Posted: 27 November 2017
This document has been peer reviewed.