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  4. May 2022
  5. Does Hospital Crowding Matter? Evidence from Trauma and Orthopedics in England

American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy

ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)

Does Hospital Crowding Matter? Evidence from Trauma and Orthopedics in England

  • Thomas P. Hoe
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 14, no. 2, May 2022
(pp. 231–62)
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Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of hospital crowding on medical treatment decisions and patient health outcomes. Exploiting pseudorandom variation in emergency admissions, I find that a one-standard-deviation admission shock increases the unplanned readmission rate by 4.1 percent. Nonparametric and heterogeneity analyses suggest that "quicker and sicker" discharges contribute to the additional readmissions. The crowding impacts are larger in hospital departments with fewer beds, sicker patients, and stronger incentives to admit nonemergency patients.

Citation

Hoe, Thomas P. 2022. "Does Hospital Crowding Matter? Evidence from Trauma and Orthopedics in England." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 14 (2): 231–62. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180672

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
  • I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
  • I12 Health Behavior
  • I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
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