M8: Production of health and healthcare
19 important questions on M8: Production of health and healthcare
Draw an example of a health production function
- Why does the curve flattens out?
- Could it bend downwards after some point?
- Diminishing marginal returns: : the first input of health care contributes more than some points further on the graph (last pill gives less effect than the first one)
- Could it bend downwards after some point? Yes, if an extra input produces less health (makes it worse)
What are the two key questions to measure the marginal contribution of health care?
- How to measure the populations health?
- How to estimate the impact of health care on health?
- Higher grades + faster learning
- Never study anything twice
- 100% sure, 100% understanding
For my 1st exam I got a C. Then, I started looking for ways to learn better and I came across Study Smart. Since then I have scored a A+, A, A- and another A. I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to hear it. I am so happy with it!!
I was struggling to finish all my first-year subjects for 3 years. Then I discovered Study Smart, which helped me to finish all of them within 3 months.
Because of StudySmart, things are going well in many ways. Before, I always had study stress and no time for anything. Now I feel calm and confident (because of the program). I used to score a B, now I usually score an A or A+.
Hey Chris, I really want to thank you very much for developing the platform, I usually got around C for my exams, now I scored an A+, an A and a A- !!
Since using Study Smart, my average has increased significantly. I even completed a statistics course with a A+ while I'm bad at statistics. I took on extra courses this year, because of Study Smart. Thanks so much!
Ever since I started studying with StudySmart I passed all my exams !!! No more re-sits!! At first, I was happy with a pass and now I only get good grades. Many thanks!
I aced all the courses I studied with Study Smart. For law, I first scored a D, and now an A! I’m 100% sure that I’ll pass all the courses I study with Study Smart.
I always thought I studied well. My grades were fine. I could never have imagined that applying these study skills would have such a huge and direct impact on my grades, my speed and the pleasure I have in learning.
For the first time, I finally feel totally confident about the way I learn. I have the perfect overview and make great progress in terms of speed and the grades I get. Thanks, Chris!
I immediately started to enjoy learning again, and my grades soared. All of a sudden, everything went better. I highly recommend Study Smart to all students..
Being able to create my materials online made the process of studying so much smoother and quicker. I no longer have to spend a huge amount of my time on creating my summaries.
At first, my notes were a mess. Now I use Study Smart to take my notes in a perfectly structured way. It helps me to save a lot of time and do other things I enjoy.
Students that study with Study Smart get better grades. The system applies all the learning methods in such a way that both well-performing students and students who struggle perform much better.
Hi Chris, I would like to thank you very much. Last year I scored C on a course, and this year I got an A+ thanks to your method! Thank you very much!
The largest effect is that my child is more enthusiastic about school! Every parent wants their children to be happy at school, Study Smart made it happen.
In high school, I failed several exams, and that has really changed now. I actually needed this tool very much back then. Since I started studying with StudySmart, I haven't had any D's. My average score is now an A and those are results I would have never had in the past
With my old method, I passed only 3 out of 8 courses. Since I started taking my notes digitally in Study Smart, I have passed all my courses on the first try. For me, StudySmart takes away the stress of wondering if I will pass or not.
Thanks to StudySmart, I passed all my exams, and with better grades than before! On top of that, I have mastered a very good study method now, which I am confident will help me earn my degree.
Why do we have to be cautious with interpreting the relation between health expenditure and life expectancy?
True or false?
- Until the mid-twentieth century, practitionerprovided medical interventions played only a small role in the historical decline in population mortality rates.
- A larger role might be attributed to public health measures and the spread of knowledge of the sources of disease.
- True
- True
Give three main causes why mortality has declined over time in OECD countries (Cutler 2006) and explain them
- Economic growth increased supply of food that became available due to the agricultural and industrial revolutions allows one to withstand disease mid 18th – mid 19th century.
- Improvement of public health facilities better hygiene: sewers, cleaner water and air mid 19th – mid 20th century.
- Improvements in medicine Antibiotics for infectious diseases High-tech treatments for cardiovascular disease mid 20th century – …
Give the outcomes of the following studies about the marginal effect of health care at the individual level:
- RAND experiment
- Oregon experiment
- Card et al. (2009)
- RAND Health Insurance Experiment found virtually no effect of higher healthcare utilization (due to lower coinsurance) on health (except for the poor in poor health)
- Oregon experiment found that higher healthcare utilization (due to a Medicaid voucher) resulted in better self-reported health but not in improved objective health measures (Finkelstein et al. 2012)
- Card et al. (2009) find that more treatments to 65-years old Americans needing emergency (due to becoming eligible for Medicare) resulted in significant reduction of mortality
Inputs can be combined as
- Complements
- Perfect substitutes
- Imperfect substitutes
Draw the graphs and give examples
IS: Doing a job with a certain number of nurses and specialists
Complements:
- What happens you raise the number of inputs?
- The most efficient combination of inputs is dependent/independent of the prices of inputs in case of complements.
Perfect substitutes:
- How is the price of inputs shown in the graph?
- What does a flat slope say?
- And a steep slope?
Raising the number of inputs gives a higher outcome. Positive relationship between input and number of patients (Q), only if you use both inputs. Most efficient is independent of prices, you need a certain combination of input, you need them both.
Perfect substitutes:
Price of inputs is shown by the budget line (not in graph). Flat slope: buy input Y because this is cheaper. Steep slope: buy input X, this one is cheaper.
When is a firm said to experience economies of scale?
Which difficulties do hospitals face when measuring efficiency?
- Enormous heterogeneity of products: the “case-mix problem”
- Treatment of quality
- Lack of reliable measures
- Most hospital cost-function studies omit physicians’ input prices entirely
When is a firm allocative efficient when looking at a graph?
Is DEA better suited to measure the relative efficiency of hospitals than of dental practices?
What is a major weakness of DEA and SFA studies? For which products do these frontier techniques work best? Give two characteristics.
Since 2000, the gap in DALE between low- and high-income countries increased/decreased
Give three methodological challenges of evidence of the marginal effect of health care at the country level
- Adjust for differences in need
- Ruling out all other relevant factors affecting population health
- Ruling out reverse causality: extra health care may increase health, but better health may also reduce health care use / spending
Give the three requirements for measuring output of healthcare providers
- Final output indicators: number of patients (successfully) treated?
- Intermediary output indicators: number of activities performed?
- Appropriate case-mix correction possible Adequate data available (patient registries)
Give the definitions of frontier and non-frontier studies
Frontier studies: actual outputs of firm costs are compared to the most efficient (best practice) firms that are situated on the frontier
There are empirical findings on hospital economies of scale. Why are these underestimated? Give two reasons
- Imperfect quality measures
- Unobserved output heterogeneity (imperfect case-mix adjustment)
The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:
- A unique study and practice tool
- Never study anything twice again
- Get the grades you hope for
- 100% sure, 100% understanding
