Market Defending Medicine: When Physicians and Midwives Compete for Patients

Authors

Angelyn Fairchild, Brigham Young University
Dr. Joseph Price, Brigham Young University

Keywords

market defending medicine, physicians, midwives, medical provider

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Economics

Abstract

Patients trust that their medical provider will help them receive the best care possible even when this may involve referring them to another provider. However, transferring patients to other providers represents a transfer of income between the health care providers, thus creating a strong profit incentive for physicians to retain patients in their care. In order to examine how physicians respond to competitive threats to their income, we exploit changes in insurance laws that increased competition in the market for labor and delivery by expanding policies to cover midwives as well as physicians.

Recommended Citation

Fairchild, Angelyn and Price, Dr. Joseph (2013) "Market Defending Medicine: When Physicians and Midwives Compete for Patients," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 204.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/204