Background The objective of this study is to assess if waiting times for elective surgeries within the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) are influenced by the waiting times at neighboring hospitals. Recognizing these interdependencies, and their extent, is crucial for understanding how...

Objective By manipulating patients' critical attitude in a video experiment, we examined whether physicians are more intended to perform defensive acts because of a higher perceived liability risk in Belgium. Methods We assigned 85 practicing gynaecologists/obstetricians and orthopaedists...

One of the main goals at the European level is that healthcare systems must be accessible but at the same time cost-effective and sustainable in the long term. The implementation of eHealth is one way to contribute to this goal. The presented paper is focused on the evaluation of the usage of...

Background We investigate access disparities in pharmaceutical care among German patients with type 2 diabetes, focusing on differences between public and private health insurance schemes. The primary objectives include investigating whether patients with private health insurance experience...

Purpose This paper attempts to rejuvenate waqf in the health sector by identifying and elaborating on its issues and challenges. The government budget for this sector is significant; thus, the present paper aims to provide a nongovernment budget to lessen the government's burden...

We study the effects of "balance billing", i.e., allowing physicians to charge a fee from patients in addition to the fee paid by Medicare. First, we show that on pure efficiency grounds the optimal Medicare fee under balance billing is zero. An active Medicare policy thus can only be justified...

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is a Pay-for-Performance scheme introduced in England in 2004 to reward primary care providers. This incentive scheme provides financial incentives that reward the overall performance of a practice, not individual effort. Consequently, an important...