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  • 2021
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Diagnosing Quality: Learning, Amenities, and the Demand for Health Care

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Emilio Gutierrez, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

We study the role of amenities in increasing demand for underutilized healthcare services. We evaluate the offer of a high-amenity diagnostic consultation for cataracts with a randomized price and find that a lower price for the high-amenity consultation increases surgery take-up by more than 50%. Structural estimates from a model of patient demand show that patients’ update to surgery valuation from experienced amenities is large (three-quarters of the update effect of wait time), and that price effects (e.g., sunk cost accounting or gift exchange) are much smaller, suggesting that providing amenities in initial interactions can increase adoption of underutilized services.

Keywords

Health Care Demand; Amenities; Health Care Quality; Cataracts; Surgery; Health Care and Treatment; Demand and Consumers; Quality; Learning; Mexico

Citation

Adhvaryu, Achyuta, Emilio Gutierrez, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo. "Diagnosing Quality: Learning, Amenities, and the Demand for Health Care." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-110, March 2021.
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About The Author

Jorge Tamayo

Strategy
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More from the Authors
  • An Anatomy of Performance Monitoring By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo
  • Saving for a Dry Day: Coal, Dams, and the Energy Transition By: Michele Fioretti and Jorge Tamayo
  • The Luck of the Draw: The Causal Effect of Physicians on Birth Outcomes By: Arlen Guarin, Christian Posso, Estefania Saravia and Jorge Tamayo
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