TUES 16 MAY 2023
Doctor Consultations - In person versus Online (joint with Amanda Dahlstrand and Nestor Le Nestour)
We study the effects of meetings between patients and doctors (primary care physicians) taking place online versus in-person. The decision whether to deliver services online or in-person is crucial in many settings, but there is relatively little evidence about its consequences. This decision is particularly important for delivering primary healthcare, due to the potential implications for patient health, the cost of healthcare provision, and the differential access that patients have to in-person care depending on their location and socioeconomic status. To shed light on this question, we assemble new data, which allow us to follow the health treatments and outcomes of (anonymized) individual patients in Sweden. We use variation in the effectively random assignment of patients to nurses with different propensities to refer patients to online versus in-person doctor meetings. We then study the costs and health consequences of this decision, including on doctor-patient meeting duration, patient satisfaction, health diagnosis, prescription, and subsequent hospitalizations.
Bio: Guy Micheals is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a research associate at Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the LSE. He also serves as an associate editor at the Economic Journal. His research interests include labor economics, urban economics, and economic development. His research focuses on urbanization, labor market inequality, and technological change. He has a B.Sc. in Mathematics, magna cum laude, from Tel-Aviv University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In Sandwiches and Soft drinks from 12:30
Meeting Information - Zoom