Biomaterial Database

Do physicians induce demand for medical services? 1989

T H Rice, and R J Labelle

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

In this paper we provide a critique of an article by Roger Feldman and Frank Sloan that appeared in the Summer 1988 issue of this journal. In that article, the authors contend that there is little evidence to support the notion of supplier-induced demand or the contention that physicians generate demand to avoid the impact on their incomes of government price controls. In this critique, we argue that the evidence on supplier-induced demand and physician responses to price controls does not support the conclusions drawn by Feldman and Sloan. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the debate for policy formulation and future research.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007182	Income	Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital.	Income Distribution,Income Generation Programs,Savings,Distribution, Income,Distributions, Income,Income Distributions,Income Generation Program,Incomes,Program, Income Generation,Programs, Income Generation
D010819	Physician's Role	The expected function of a member of the medical profession.	Physicians' Role,Physician Role,Physician's Roles,Physicians Role,Physicians' Roles,Role, Physician's,Role, Physicians',Roles, Physician's,Roles, Physicians'
D010820	Physicians	Individuals licensed to practice medicine.	Physician
D002170	Canada	The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.
D004465	Economic Competition	The effort of two or more parties to secure the business of a third party by offering, usually under fair or equitable rules of business practice, the most favorable terms.	Competition, Economic,Competitions, Economic,Economic Competitions
D005251	Fees, Medical	Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.	Fee, Medical,Medical Fee,Medical Fees
D006291	Health Policy	Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.	Health Care Policies,Health Policies,Healthcare Policy,National Health Policy,Care Policies, Health,Health Care Policy,Health Policy, National,Healthcare Policies,National Health Policies,Policies, Health,Policies, Health Care,Policies, Healthcare,Policy, Health,Policy, Health Care,Policy, Healthcare
D006301	Health Services Needs and Demand	Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.	Health Services Needs,Needs,Needs and Demand, Health Services,Target Population,Health Services Need,Need, Health Services,Needs, Health Services,Population, Target,Populations, Target,Target Populations
D006302	Health Services Research	The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)	Health Care Research,Medical Care Research,Research, Health Services,Action Research,Health Services Evaluation,Healthcare Research,Research, Medical Care,Evaluation, Health Services,Evaluations, Health Services,Health Services Evaluations,Research, Action,Research, Health Care,Research, Healthcare
D012380	Role	The expected and characteristic pattern of behavior exhibited by an individual as a member of a particular social group.	Role Concept,Concept, Role,Concepts, Role,Role Concepts,Roles