title: Provider-client interactions and quantity of health care use.
abstract: This paper considers three types of provider-client interactions that influence quantity of health care use: rationing, effort, and persuasion. By rationing, we refer to a quantity limit set by a provider; effort, the productive inputs supplied by a provider to increase a client's demand; persuasion, the unproductive inputs used by a provider to induce a client's demand. We construct a theoretical model incorporating all three mechanisms as special cases. When the general model is specialized into one of three mechanisms, a set of empirical implications emerges. We test for the presence of each mechanism using data of patients receiving outpatient treatment for alcohol abuse in the Maine Addiction Treatment System. We find evidence for rationing and persuasion, but not effort.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Finance, National Cheng-Chi University; 64, Sec. 2, Zhi-nan Road, Wenshan, Taipei 116, Taiwan, ROC. hmlien@nccu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Hsien-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.forename: Ching-To
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Albert Ma
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: McGuire
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008281:Maine; D008297:Male; D017059:Models, Econometric; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data