title: Professional uncertainty and physician medical decision-making in a multiple treatment framework.
abstract: This paper develops a new microanalytic approach to physician medical decision-making treatment setting. Physician medical decision-making is modelled as a two-stage sequential process. In Stage 1, the patient's illness is diagnosed and the health outcomes for all illness-related restoration options are identified. In Stage 2, an "optimal" restoration option is selected. This model provides new insights into physician medical decision-making and the complexity of proving physician-induced demand in a medical care market where professional uncertainty and consumer heterogeneity exist.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Economics and Law, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003657:Decision Making; D003933:Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D013812:Therapeutics