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The Volume‐Outcome Relationship and Minimum Volume Standards – Empirical Evidence for Germany
Author(s) -
Hentschker Corinna,
Mennicken Roman
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/hec.3051
Subject(s) - volume (thermodynamics) , compromise , abdominal aortic aneurysm , medicine , quality (philosophy) , outcome (game theory) , actuarial science , surgery , economics , aneurysm , political science , thermodynamics , philosophy , physics , mathematical economics , epistemology , law
Summary For decades, there is an ongoing discussion about the quality of hospital care leading i.a. to the introduction of minimum volume standards in various countries. In this paper, we analyze the volume‐outcome relationship for patients with intact abdominal aortic aneurysm and hip fracture. We define hypothetical minimum volume standards in both conditions and assess consequences for access to hospital services in Germany. The results show clearly that patients treated in hospitals with a higher case volume have on average a significant lower probability of death in both conditions. Furthermore, we show that the hypothetical minimum volume standards do not compromise overall access measured with changes in travel times. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.