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Estimating returns to hospital volume : Evidence from advanced cancer surgery

Avdic, Daniel ; Lundborg, Petter LU and Vikström, Johan (2019) In Journal of Health Economics 63. p.81-99
Abstract

High-volume hospitals typically perform better than low-volume hospitals. In this paper, we study whether such patterns reflect a causal effect of case volume on patient outcomes. To this end, we exploit closures and openings of entire cancer clinics in Swedish hospitals which provides sharp and arguably exogenous variation in case volumes. Using detailed register data on more than 100,000 treatment episodes of advanced cancer surgery, our results suggest substantial positive effects of operation volume on survival. Complementary analyses point to learning-by-doing as an important explanation.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cancer surgery, Causal effect, Hospital case volume, Learning-by-doing, Survival
in
Journal of Health Economics
volume
63
pages
19 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85057813282
  • pmid:30529091
ISSN
0167-6296
DOI
10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.10.005
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
035f08f8-e53c-4a5f-86ef-f592de6d29ad
date added to LUP
2018-12-18 12:54:09
date last changed
2024-04-01 17:32:52
@article{035f08f8-e53c-4a5f-86ef-f592de6d29ad,
  abstract     = {{<p>High-volume hospitals typically perform better than low-volume hospitals. In this paper, we study whether such patterns reflect a causal effect of case volume on patient outcomes. To this end, we exploit closures and openings of entire cancer clinics in Swedish hospitals which provides sharp and arguably exogenous variation in case volumes. Using detailed register data on more than 100,000 treatment episodes of advanced cancer surgery, our results suggest substantial positive effects of operation volume on survival. Complementary analyses point to learning-by-doing as an important explanation.</p>}},
  author       = {{Avdic, Daniel and Lundborg, Petter and Vikström, Johan}},
  issn         = {{0167-6296}},
  keywords     = {{Cancer surgery; Causal effect; Hospital case volume; Learning-by-doing; Survival}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{81--99}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Health Economics}},
  title        = {{Estimating returns to hospital volume : Evidence from advanced cancer surgery}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.10.005}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.10.005}},
  volume       = {{63}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}