Patients' preferences explain a small but significant share of regional variation in medicare spending.

ABSTRACT: This study assessed the extent to which differences in patients' preferences across geographic areas explained differences in traditional fee-for-service Medicare spending across Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Hospital Referral Regions (HRRs). Preference measures were based on results of a survey that asked patients questions about their physicians, their own health status, and the care they would want in their last six months of life. We found that patients' preferences explained 5 percent of the variation across HRRs in total Medicare spending. In comparison, supply factors, such as the number of physicians, specialists, and hospital beds, explained 23 percent, and patients' health and income explained 12 percent. We also explored the relative importance of preferences in determining thr

SUBMITTER: Baker LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4212899 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature