Does higher hospital cost imply higher quality of care?
Abstract
This study investigates whether higher input use per stay in the hospital (treatment
intensity) and longer length of stay improve outcomes of care. We allow for endogeneity
of intensity and length of stay by estimating a quasi-maximum-likelihood discrete
factor model, where the distribution of the unmeasured variable is modeled using a
discrete distribution. Data on elderly persons come from several waves of the National
Long-Term Care Survey merged with Medicare claims data for 1984-1995 and the National
Death Index. We find that higher intensity improves patient survival and some dimensions
of functional status among those who survive.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2122Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1162/003465303762687703Publication Info
Picone, GA; Sloan, FA; Chou, SY; & Taylor, DH (2003). Does higher hospital cost imply higher quality of care?. Review of Economics and Statistics, 85(1). pp. 51-62. 10.1162/003465303762687703. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2122.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Frank A. Sloan
J. Alexander McMahon Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management
Professor Sloan is interested in studying the subjects of health policy and the economics
of aging, hospitals, health, pharmaceuticals, and substance abuse. He has received
funding from numerous research grants that he earned for studies of which he was the
principal investigator. His most recent grants were awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, the Center for Disease Control, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the National
Institute on Aging. Titles of his projects include, “Why Mature S
Donald H. Taylor Jr.
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Don Taylor is a health policy scholar who has studied rural health, identification
of underserved areas, and the economics of smoking and cessation. For the past 20
years his work has focused on how society cares for the elderly and to what effect
on individuals, families, public programs and inter-generational wealth. More recently
he has focused on archival research methods that help to illustrate the role of Race
in our history—individual, institutional, national. An emerging interest i
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