Convenient primary care and emergency hospital utilisation

Ted Pinchbeck*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
31 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Participation and utilisation decisions lie at the heart of many public policy questions. I contribute new evidence by using hospital records to examine how access to primary care services affects utilisation of hospital Emergency Departments in England. Using a natural experiment in the roll out of services, I first show that access to primary care reduces Emergency Department visits. Additional strategies then allow me to separate descriptively four aspects of primary care access: proximity, opening hours, need to make an appointment, and eligibility. Convenience-oriented services divert three times as many patients from emergency visits, largely because patients can attend without appointments.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102242
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Health Economics
Volume68
Early online date9 Oct 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2019

Keywords

  • Primary care
  • Emergency care
  • Access
  • Utilisation decisions

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Convenient primary care and emergency hospital utilisation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this