Abstract

Participation and utilization decisions lie at the heart of many public policy questions. I contribute new evidence by using hospital records to examine how access to primary care services affects utilization of hospital Emergency Departments in England. Using a natural experiment in the roll out of services, I first show that access to primary care reduces Emergency Departments visits. Additional strategies then allow me to separate descriptively four aspects of primary care access: proximity, opening hours, need to make an appointment, and eligibility. Convenience–oriented services divert three times as many patients from emergency visits, largely because patients can attend without appointments.

Publication Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Additional Information:	Copyright 2019, the author.
Publisher Keywords:	primary care, emergency care, access, utilization decisions
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Departments:	School of Arts & Social Sciences > Economics

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