Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence from the English NHS Patient Choice Reforms
研究了英国NHS患者选择改革后，医院竞争对医疗质量（以急性心肌梗死死亡率衡量）的影响，发现竞争加剧的市场中死亡率下降更快。
Recent substantive reforms to the English National Health Service expanded patient choice and encouraged hospitals to compete within a market with fixed prices. This study investigates whether these reforms led to improvements in hospital quality. We use a difference-in-difference-style estimator to test whether hospital quality (measured using mortality from acute myocardial infarction) improved more quickly in more competitive markets after these reforms came into force in 2006. We find that after the reforms were implemented, mortality fell (i.e. quality improved) for patients living in more competitive markets. Our results suggest that hospital competition can lead to improvements in hospital quality.