AN ANALYTICAL MODEL OF DEMAND FOR HOSPITAL INPATIENT CARE.

EZE, Pius C. (2018) AN ANALYTICAL MODEL OF DEMAND FOR HOSPITAL INPATIENT CARE. International Journal of Social Science Perspectives, 2 (1). pp. 80-86. ISSN 3577-7750

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Abstract

This paper presents an analytical model of demand for curative care such as hospital inpatient care. In this essay, a person's illness is used as a measure of the person's health status. Medical care and non-medical consumption are the choice variables in a consumer's constrained utility-maximization problem. Methodologically, this model of demand for medical care does not rely on capital theory, common in the literature. All else equal, a person’s demand for hospital impatient care depends on how ill the person is. That is, the demand is a function of the severity of the person’s illness. The model is static and deterministic, and is based on the fact that, by definition, only sick persons demand curative medical care. One implication of distinguishing curative care from other types of care is the possibility of satiation when the person is healthy. Satiation diminishes differences in medical care expenditures between wealthy and poor persons and can help explain the empirically observed low income elasticity of demand for hospital inpatient care.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Management and Social Sciences
Depositing User: mrs chioma hannah
Date Deposited: 10 May 2019 15:07
Last Modified: 10 May 2019 15:07
URI: http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/1508

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