Publications
Publications
- 2021
- HBS Working Paper Series
Diagnosing Quality: Learning, Amenities, and the Demand for Health Care
By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Emilio Gutierrez, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo
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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