Physician Response to Patient Insurance Status in Ambulatory Care Clinical Decision-Making

Abstract

In self-reports, physicians are more likely to recommend services for insured than for uninsured patients, and more so when services are discretionary. This provides evidence that physicians' recommendations may be important mediators of insurance-related variation in the use of health-care services. Higher rates of use among the insured may not always reflect higher quality of care, particularly when the service is discretionary in nature.