The Volume-Outcome Relationship Revisited: Practice Indeed Makes Perfect.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine the causal effect of a hospital's experience with treating hip fractures (volume) on patient treatment outcomes.

Data sources

We use a full sample of administrative data from German hospitals for 2007. The data provide detailed information on patients and hospitals. We also reference the hospitals' addresses and the zip codes of patients' place of residence.

Study design

We apply an instrumental variable approach to address endogeneity concerns due to reverse causality and unobserved patient heterogeneity. As instruments for case volume, we use the number of potential patients and number of other hospitals in the region surrounding each hospital.

Principal findings

Our results indicate that after applying an instrumental variables (IV) regr

SUBMITTER: Hentschker C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5785314 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature