TY  - JOUR
AU  - Evans,William N.
AU  - Garthwaite,Craig L.
TI  - Estimating Heterogeneity in the Benefits of Medical Treatment Intensity
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15309
PY  - 2009
Y2  - September 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15309
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15309.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
William N. Evans
Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics
Department of Economics and Econometrics
447 Flanner Hall
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Tel: 574-631-7039
E-Mail: wevans1@nd.edu

Craig Garthwaite
Department of Management and Strategy
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847/491-2509
Fax: 847/467-1777
E-Mail: c-garthwaite@kellogg.northwestern.edu
AB  - Federal and state laws passed in the late 1990 increased considerably postpartum stays for newborns.  Using all births in California over the 1995-2001 period, 2SLS estimates suggest that for the average newborn impacted by the law, increased treatment intensity had modest and statistically insignificant (p-value>0.05) impacts on readmission probabilities.  Allowing the treatment effect to vary by pre-existing conditions or the pre-law propensity score of being discharged early, two objective measures of medical need, demonstrates that the law had large and statistically significant impacts for those with the greatest likelihood of a readmission.  These results demonstrate heterogeneity in the returns to greater treatment intensity, and the returns to the average and marginal patient vary considerably.
ER  -