Physician Health Management Skills and Patient Outcomes

Emilia Simeonova; Niels Skipper; Peter Rønø Thingholm

doi:10.3368/jhr.0420-10833R1

Physician Health Management Skills and Patient Outcomes

Emilia Simeonova, Niels Skipper, Peter Rønø Thingholm

Department of Economics and Business Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

A host of different factors affect health and longevity, ranging from genetic endowments to public policy. Physicians have a substantial influence on patients’ health and health-related costs, but we know little about the extent of this influence beyond clinical decisions, such as adequate diagnosis and treatment. This paper demonstrates that the health management styles of primary care physicians significantly affect the health outcomes of their patients. Using data on the population of statin users in Denmark and matching patients to their primary care physicians, we show that the physician’s ability to facilitate adherence with prescription medications has significant positive effects on patient outcomes and health costs, even after controlling for observable and unobservable patient characteristics. Policy interventions aimed at improving this aspect of physicians’ health management styles have important implications for patient outcomes and healthcare costs.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Human Resources
Volume	59
Issue	3
Pages (from-to)	777-809
Number of pages	33
ISSN	0022-166X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0420-10833R1
Publication status	Published - 2024

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Physician Health Management Skills and Patient Outcomes

Abstract

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