We test whether financial incentives have an effect on weight reduction in a randomized controlled trial involving 700 obese persons assigned to three experimental groups. While two treatment groups obtain €150 and €300, respectively, for achieving an individually assigned target weight...

This paper investigates the cost and profit efficiency of German hospitals and their variation with ownership type. It is motivated by the empirical finding that private (for-profit) hospitals – having been shown to be less cost efficient in the past – on average earn higher profits than...

Based on individual level data from Germany, we analyze the effect of changes in the compulsory benefit package of the social health insurance on the demand for supplementary private insurance, employing a difference-in-differences approach. The focus is on the exclusion of dental prostheses...

We complement the empirical evidence on the sustainability of weight loss achieved through cash rewards and, for the first time, rigorously examine the potential of cash rewards to prevent weight cycling. In a three period randomized controlled trial, about 700 obese persons were first assigned...

Notaufnahmen sind ein im Krankenhausbetrieb häufig wirtschaftlich defizitärer Bereich. Die rund um die Uhr stattfindende stationäre und ambulante Notfallversorgung von Patienten mit akuten Gesundheitsstörungen ist jedoch für die Bevölkerung eine unverzichtbare medizinische Dienstleistung....

Aktuell werden in der Krankenhausplanung hauptsächlich bestehende Strukturen fortgeschrieben - dadurch haben sich aber Fehlentwicklungen mit einem Nebeneinander von Unter-, Über- und Fehlversorgung herausgebildet. Auch angesichts demografischer Veränderungen und sich verknappender Ressourcen...

Financial soundness will become more and more difficult in the future for all types of hospitals. This is particularly relevant for gynaecology and obstetrics departments: while some disciplines can expect higher demand due to demographic changes and progress in medicine and medical technology,...

ABSTRACT An inverse relationship between job insecurity and sickness absence has been established in the literature, which is explained by employees avoiding to send signals of both poor health and uncooperative behavior towards the employer. In this paper, we focus on whether the same mechanism...

This paper examines effects of reference pricing for prescription drugs in German social health insurance based on econometric panel data methods. We analyze the effect on ex-factory prices. Moreover, we investigate whether manufacturers adapt prices of their products not subject to reference...

This paper examines the effect of copayments on doctor visits using the German health care reform of 2004 as a natural experiment. In January 2004, copayments of 10 euros for the first doctor visit in each quarter have been introduced for all adults in the statutory health insurance. Individuals...