Errors in assessing the demand for inpatient treatment

According to Cullis, Forster, and Frost (1979), the mortality experience of an area is not associated with the demand for inpatient treatment and is not correlated with the supply of hospital beds, and an increase in the supply of hospital beds generates additional demand. A number of claims of Cull...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied economics 1988-03, Vol.20 (3), p.407-415
Main Authors: Senn, S. J., Davidson, S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic theory
Errors
Inpatient care
Statistical analysis
Studies
Supply & demand
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:According to Cullis, Forster, and Frost (1979), the mortality experience of an area is not associated with the demand for inpatient treatment and is not correlated with the supply of hospital beds, and an increase in the supply of hospital beds generates additional demand. A number of claims of Cullis et al. are challenged both on theoretical and empirical grounds. One of these claims is the 5/7 law of demand whereby the provision of one additional hospital bed leads to it being occupied 5 days out of 7. It is concluded that resident populations should not be used for standardization. To the extent that the boundaries mirror the observed flow of cases, resident populations suffer from the same difficulties as catchment populations. The safest conclusion that can be reached on the relationship between the supply and demand for National Health Service beds in the UK is that the precise nature of this relationship is still very much an open issue.
ISSN:0003-6846
1466-4283
DOI:10.1080/00036848800000053