Exam 7: Medical Education, Organization, and Business Practices

The level of international medical school graduates entering the U.S. for residency training programs has been trending upward for the past 20 years.

Explain some of the characteristics of health care which are conducive to price discrimination.

The federal government, through its control over the American Medical Association, held the physician supply constant for most of the 20^th century.

Explain why patients in hospitals are generally insensitive to price, but buyers of health insurance are sensitive to price differences in health insurance policies. Be sure to include an explanation of why insurance companies are very price competitive.

Increasing the physician supply can be achieved through all the following ways except

One of the advantages of belonging to a group practice is that it allows physicians to use their time more efficiently, compared to a solo practice.

One of the key provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable care Act offers incentives to physician offices to implement electronic medical records (EMR). The idea behind EMR is to increase physicians' efficiency, as well as quality of patient care. It is an expensive technology, requiring a significant investment of time and financial resources, especially at startup. It is safe to predict that group practices will be less likely to adopt EMR, compared to physicians in solo practices.

The age-adjusted rate of hospitalization (per 10,000 person years) for chronic lung disease varies much more than the rate of hospitalization for inguinal hernia repair. A good explanation for this variation might be

Of the 1,750 students expected to graduate with an M.D. from U.S. medical schools this year, the average debt per student will exceed $100,000.

The idea of comparative advantage and the rule that marginal productivity of physician office inputs per dollar spent should be equal over inputs are good in theory, but in practice may conflict with patient preferences.