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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This article analyses the provision of auxiliary clinical services that are
typically carried out within the hospital. We estimate a flexible cost
function for three of the most important (cost-wise) diagnostic techniques
and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals: Clinical Pathology,
Medical Imaging, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Our objective
in carrying out this estimation is the evaluation of economies of scale and
scope in the provision of these services. For all services, we find evidence of
economies of scale and some evidence of economies of scope. We also find
evidence of diminishing returns to management, whereby larger hospitals
appear to have surpassed their optimal size. These results have important
policy implications and can be related to the ongoing discussion of where
and how should hospitals provide these services.
Description
Keywords
Translog cost function Economies of scale Economies of scope Clinical services Hospitals
Pedagogical Context
Citation
GONÇALES, Ricardo; BARROS, Pedro - Economies of scale and scope in the provision of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals. Applied Economics. ISSN 0003–6846. Vol. 45 (2013), p. 415–433
Publisher
Taylors & Francis