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A panel data analysis of productive efficiency in freestanding health clinics

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Abstract

By using a panel data on a number of freestanding health clinics in New York State over 1984–1987, we have estimated the production function for ambulatory care after controlling for unmeasured clinic-specific managerial efficiency. We found significant differences in management efficiency, which peaks around 50500 visits per year. The optimal staffing ratio between doctors, extenders and nurses was found to be around 1∶1/3∶1, in order for a clinic to be on the efficiency frontier.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, 12208, Albany, New York, USA

    S. C. Johnson

  2. Department of Economics, State University of New York, 12222, Albany, New York, USA

    K. Lahiri

Authors
  1. S. C. Johnson
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  2. K. Lahiri
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Additional information

We would like to thank Badi Baltagi, Baldev Raj, Peter Schmidt and two anonymous referees for many helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of the paper.

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Johnson, S.C., Lahiri, K. A panel data analysis of productive efficiency in freestanding health clinics. Empirical Economics 17, 141–151 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01192480

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01192480

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