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Do waiting times reduce hospital costs?

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  • Luigi Siciliani
  • Anderson Stanciole
  • Rowena Jacobs
Abstract
Using a sample of 137 hospitals over the period 1998-2002 in the English National Health Service, we estimate the elasticity of hospital costs with respect to waiting times. Our cross-sectional and panel-data results suggest that at the sample mean (103 days), waiting times have no significant effect on hospital, costs or, at most, a positive one. If significant, the elasticity of cost with respect to waiting time from our cross-sectional estimates is in the range 0.4-1. The elasticity is still positive but lower in our fixed-effects specifications (0.2-0.4). In all specifications, the effect of waiting time on cost is non-linear, suggesting a U-shaped relationship between hospital costs and waiting times: the level of waiting time which minimises total costs is always below ten days.

Suggested Citation

  • Luigi Siciliani & Anderson Stanciole & Rowena Jacobs, 2008. "Do waiting times reduce hospital costs?," Discussion Papers 08/02, Department of Economics, University of York.
    • Handle: RePEc:yor:yorken:08/02
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruno Martins & Luís Filipe, 2020. "Doctors' response to queues: Evidence from a Portuguese emergency department," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 123-137, February.
    2. Luigi Siciliani & Tor Iversen, 2012. "Waiting Times and Waiting Lists," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Gravelle, Hugh & Siciliani, Luigi, 2008. "Ramsey waits: Allocating public health service resources when there is rationing by waiting," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1143-1154, September.
    4. Kurt R. Brekke & Luigi Siciliani & Odd Rune Straume, 2015. "Hospital Competition with Soft Budgets," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(3), pages 1019-1048, July.
    5. Moscelli, Giuseppe & Siciliani, Luigi & Tonei, Valentina, 2016. "Do waiting times affect health outcomes? Evidence from coronary bypass," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 151-159.
    6. Meliyanni Johar & Elizabeth Savage, 2010. "Do Private Patients have Shorter Waiting Times for Elective Surgery? Evidence from New South Wales Public Hospitals," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 29(2), pages 128-142, June.
    7. Aida Ribera & John Slof & Ignacio Ferreira-González & Vicente Serra & Bruno García-del Blanco & Purificació Cascant & Rut Andrea & Carlos Falces & Enrique Gutiérrez & Raquel del Valle-Fernández & Césa, 2018. "The impact of waiting for intervention on costs and effectiveness: the case of transcatheter aortic valve replacement," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(7), pages 945-956, September.
    8. Agovino, Massimiliano & Musella, Gaetano & Scaletti, Alessandro, 2022. "Equilibrium and efficiency in the first aid services market: The case of the emergency department of Sorrento," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    9. Sofia Dimakou & Ourania Dimakou & Henrique Basso, 2015. "Waiting time distribution in public health care: empirics and theory," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-27, December.
    10. André Madeira & Victor Moutinho & José Alberto Fuinhas, 2021. "Does waiting times decrease or increase operational costs in short and long-term? Evidence from Portuguese public hospitals," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(8), pages 1195-1216, November.
    11. Brekke, Kurt R. & Cellini, Roberto & Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2010. "Competition and quality in health care markets: A differential-game approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 508-523, July.
    12. Andrea Riganti & Luigi Siciliani & Carlo V. Fiorio, 2017. "The effect of waiting times on demand and supply for elective surgery: Evidence from Italy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S2), pages 92-105, September.
    13. Sofia Dimakou & Ourania Dimakou & Henrique S. Basso, 2015. "The Asymmetric Effects of Waiting Time Targets in Health Care," BCAM Working Papers 1502, Birkbeck Centre for Applied Macroeconomics.
    14. Sofía Garrido & Emilio Gutiérrez, 2019. "Time goes by so slowly (for those who wait): a field experiment in health care," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 28(1), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Luca Armanaschi & Elisabetta Barzan & Magda Cavallucci & Carlo Federici & Marco Sartirana & Florian Zerzer, 2022. "I dati amministrativi per la governance dei tempi di attesa delle prestazioni ambulatoriali: l?esperienza dell?Azienda Sanitaria dell?Alto Adige," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(123), pages 53-75.
    16. Shimaa Elkomy & Graham Cookson, 2020. "Performance Management Strategy: Waiting Time in the English National Health Services," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 95-112, March.

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    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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