We investigate the relationship between costs and quality in nonprofit nursing homes, a key issue in the present context of cost containment measures. In accordance with the economic theory of production, we estimate a three-inputs total cost function for nursing home services using data from 45 nursing homes in Switzerland between 2006 and 2010. Quality is measured by means of clinical...
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In: Health policy, 2014, vol. 115, no. 2-3, p. 237–248
Nursing homes; prospective payment; quality of care; policy change
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In: Economic Modelling, 2015, vol. 51, p. 289-298
Population aging is challenging governments to find new solutions to finance the increasing demand for nursing home care and slow down the increase in expenditures. In this light, many European countries are currently considering reforms to increase efficiency in the provision of nursing home services. One popular restructuring policy is the transformation of public organizations into private...
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Pressure on health care systems due to the increasing expenditures of the elderly population is pushing policy makers to adopt new regulation and payment schemes for nursing home services. We sketch a simple theoretical model to predict the behavior of nursing homes under different payment schemes. We then investigate the implications of prospective payments on nursing home costs using a...
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In Switzerland, nursing home services are mainly provided by regulated public and private nonprofit organizations. Some of them are created by local governments as foundations. This provides a unique setting to analyze the impact of the institutional form on the performance of nursing homes. We propose a model where the institutional form is represented as a legal constraint which affects...
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This paper investigates the determinants of regional variations in outpatient antibiotic consumption using Swiss data. The analysis contributes to the debate on appropriate antibiotic use by improving the understanding of its determinants, and may help to define more effective health care policies to reduce the resistance phenomenon. Findings suggest that Switzerland exhibits relatively low...
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This paper investigates regional variations in outpatient antibiotic use and provides a first empirical analysis based on Swiss data. We compare Swiss antibiotic consumption with antibiotic use in other European countries and present descriptive statistics at cantonal level. Preliminary findings show that Switzerland exhibits relatively low levels of consumption. There are significant...
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This paper seeks to explain local variations in the use of antibiotics in the community and to assess the welfare loss due to heterogeneous attitudes towards the risk of bacterial infections and resistance. Significant differences are observed in the per capita antibiotic consumption measured in defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants (DID) across small geographic areas in Switzerland. A model...
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In: Health Policy, 2006, vol. 78, no. 1, p. 77-92
This paper investigates the determinants of regional variations in outpatient antibiotic consumption using Swiss data. The analysis contributes to the debate on appropriate antibiotic use by improving the understanding of its determinants, and may help to define more effective health care policies to reduce the resistance phenomenon. Findings suggest that Switzerland exhibits relatively low...
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We model demand for different classes of antibiotics used for respiratory infections in outpatient care using a linear approximate almost ideal demand system approach. We compute elasticities to socioeconomic determinants of consumption and own- and cross- price elasticities between different groups of antibiotics. We find significant elasticities between newer/more expensive generations and...
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