SMU SOE Online Seminar (Nov 29, 2021, 9.00am-10.30am): Physician Learning and Treatment Choices: Evidence from Brain Aneurysms

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TOPIC:

PHYSICIAN LEARNING AND TREATMENT CHOICES: EVIDENCE FROM BRAIN ANEURYSMS

ABSTRACT I examine how two types of physician learning jointly shape their medical decision-making: Bayesian learning that updates beliefs about treatment-patient match quality and learning by doing that improves surgical skills. Using discharge-level data on the history of brain aneurysm treatments by over 400 new physicians in New York State, I first document empirical evidence that both types of learning are present and affect the choices of forward-looking physicians. I then develop and estimate a dynamic structural model of learning and treatment choices for heterogeneous patients. I quantify the impacts of learning and find that (i) learning leads to a substantial deviation from the myopic best choices, hurting short-term patient outcomes but improving the overall treatment success rates by 18-25%; (ii) learning explains about one-third of the supply-side variation in the choices of care, with Bayesian learning contributing to the convergence of choices and learning by doing the divergence of choices. In the counterfactual experiments, I evaluate how alternative payment schemes and incentive programs would affect the treatment choices and patient outcomes. Click here to view the speaker's profile.		This seminar will be held virtually via Zoom. A confirmation email with the Zoom details will be sent to the registered email by 26 November 2021.
		PRESENTER Qing Gong University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
		RESEARCH FIELDS Health Economics Public Economics Applied Microeconomics
		DATE: 29 November 2021 (Monday)
		TIME: 9.00am - 10.30am

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