Research in medical economics: A patchwork approach or a systematic plan?

Abstract

Economists seem to be studying every nook and cranny of the field of medical care, from cost‐benefit analyses of medical technology to economies of scale in hospital size, the utilisation of non‐physician personnel to render care, the effects of pre‐paid financing and care systems, and so on, across an apparently highly divergent range of concerns. Obviously, what these studies have in common is their general subject, ‘medical care financing delivery, and utilisation’, But do they represent only a patchwork approach to understanding the economic features of the ‘real’ system of producing and consuming medical care, or are they somehow systematically, if not always clearly, related to each other? It is argued here that what seems to be a random, unrelated set of studies are indeed closely unified: and together they comprise an integrated analysis of the broad sector of medical care economics.

Citation

Schifrin, L.G. (1988), "Research in medical economics: A patchwork approach or a systematic plan?", Journal of Management in Medicine, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 229-238. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb060503