A new working paper from Diane Alexander, Janet Currie, Molly Schnell examines a much-needed innovation in health care deliveries:Retail clinics are an innovation that has the potential to improve competition in health care markets. We use the universe of emergency room (ER) visits in New Jersey from 2006-2014 to examine the impact of retail clinics on ER usage. We find significant effects of retail clinics on ER visits for both minor and preventable conditions; Residents residing close to an open clinic are 4.1-12.3 percent less likely to use an ER for these conditions. Our estimates suggest annual cost savings from reduced ER usage of over $70 million if retail clinics were made readily available across New Jersey.A few years ago, Boston Mayor Menino prevented the opening of such "minute clinics" at CVS stores primarily to protect Boston Medical Center and community health centers. There's a public choice lesson to be learned.
Monday, July 17, 2017
Retail urgent care: It helps
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From two graduates of the Suffolk University PhD program in Economics I had the pleasure of knowing and working with over the years. Here...
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.50.3.781 Mirrless Review by Mart
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