Procedures for analyzing and comparing healthcare providers' effects on health services delivery and outcomes have been referred to as provider profiling. In a typical profiling procedure, patient-level responses are measured for clusters of patients treated by providers that in turn, can be...

Objective. To examine effects of primary care physicians (PCPs) and patients on the association between charges for primary care and specialty care in a point-of-service (POS) health plan.Data Source. Claims from 1996 for 3,308 adult male POS plan members, each of whom was assigned to one of the...