Relative inefficiencies in production between solo and group practice physicians.
Health economists have hypothesized for some time that physicians produce medical care in an inefficient manner. Further, whether solo or group practice physicians are relatively more inefficient has been a question of particular interest. Theoretical considerations suggest that solo and group practice physicians face different behavioural and production constraints, implying that they may produce care at different levels of efficiency; which is more efficient is an empirical question. We employed stochastic production frontier estimation to address this issue.
Defelice
L C
LC
Whittemore School of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, Durham 03824, USA.
Bradford
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WD
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006123:Group Practice / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D017059:Models, Econometric; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011331:Private Practice / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D014481:United States