ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate how the differences across the regional reimbursement mechanisms and in particular the use of the DRGs impact on the level in the high technology equipment diffusion.MethodsBased on hospital sector data at a regional level we build up indicators...

Our experiment assesses the level of coordination on clinical best practice among physicians and investigates whether the release of guidelines helps in supporting coordination. Based on three clinical vignettes using current national guidelines, physicians evaluate the appropriateness of each...

Nowadays different healthcare policies in OECD countries seem to consider hospital readmission somehow “quality dependent”. Nonetheless, the theoretical literature on the incentives provided by payment systems tend to disregard this aspect, which indeed might be relevant in driving...

In the last few years there has been an increasing public pressure in many countries to contain costs in the healthcare sector, leading many national governments to introduce some form of prospective payment system and to reduce the scope for global budgeting. In this paper we investigate...