Does Information Matter? The Case of Nursing Home Report Cards
- Presenter:
Chair: Edward Norton; Discussant: Jennifer Troyer Wed June 7, 2006 8:00-9:30 Room 325
Over the last decade, there has been significant growth in the use of public report cards as a mechanism to address information asymmetries on the part of health care consumers. However, the overall welfare implications of report cards are unclear. On the one hand, they may empower consumers to make more informed choices and increase quality competition among providers. However, they may also create disincentives to admit certain patient types (e.g., sicker patients), and they may also increase market power on the part of providers. In the nursing home sector, there have been recent Federal and State initiatives to publicize quality information to consumers. Most significantly, the Federal government introduced the Nursing Home Compare website with a detailed report card on every certified provider in the country. The early rollout of the Federal report cards in a collection of states on a pilot basis along with the various state report card efforts allow us to exploit within-state variation in these policies over time. Using a number of datasets, we assess the overall welfare implications of nursing home report cards. Specifically, we analyze the implications of the introduction of report cards on demand for care, quality, patient mix, private-pay prices, and competition.
