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Medical Practice Variations pp 25–39Cite as

Sociological Model for Understanding Medical Practice Variations

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Part of the book series: Health Services Research ((HEALTHSR))

Abstract

Medical practice variations have been known to exist since the 1930s. The literature revealed that these variations were not random. Clear patterns of variation were found on several levels, for example, in countries, regions, hospitals, and physicians. The question, therefore, is less why physicians take different medical decisions but, more importantly, why physicians within geographical or organizational units show similarities even though differences exist between those units. In this chapter, a sociological model explaining medical practice variations is proposed. The importance of constraints and institutional mechanisms is shown, and time trends and the influence of the physician-patient interaction are elaborated upon.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Care System and Governance, NIVEL (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research), PO Box 1568, 3500 BN, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Judith D. de Jong

  2. Department of Sociology, Department of Human Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Peter P. Groenewegen

  3. NIVEL (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Peter P. Groenewegen

  4. Health Services Research, Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare (IQ Healthcare), Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, 114 IQ healthcare, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Gert P. Westert

Authors
  1. Judith D. de Jong
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  2. Peter P. Groenewegen
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  3. Gert P. Westert
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith D. de Jong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. DptofPublHlthSci,InstfrClnclEvltSciQueen, CntrforHlthServs&PolicyRsrch,Queen'sUniv, Kingston, Canada

    Ana Johnson

  2. Institute forClinical EvaluativeSciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Thérèse A. Stukel

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de Jong, J.D., Groenewegen, P.P., Westert, G.P. (2016). Sociological Model for Understanding Medical Practice Variations. In: Johnson, A., Stukel, T. (eds) Medical Practice Variations. Health Services Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7603-1_159

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7603-1_159

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