Check Up Before You Check Out: Retail Clinics and Emergency Room Use

61 Pages Posted: 12 Sep 2017 Last revised: 29 Apr 2020

See all articles by Diane Alexander

Diane Alexander

University of Pennsylvania - Health Care Management

Janet Currie

Princeton University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Molly Schnell

Northwestern University - Department of Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: September, 2017

Abstract

Retail clinics are an innovation that has the potential to improve competition in health care markets. We use the universe of emergency room (ER) visits in New Jersey from 2006-2014 to examine the impact of retail clinics on ER usage. We find significant effects of retail clinics on ER visits for both minor and preventable conditions; Residents residing close to an open clinic are 4.1-12.3 percent less likely to use an ER for these conditions. Our estimates suggest annual cost savings from reduced ER usage of over $70 million if retail clinics were made readily available across New Jersey.

Keywords: Clinics, hospital emergency services, health

JEL Classification: I11

Suggested Citation

Alexander, Diane and Currie, Janet and Schnell, Molly, Check Up Before You Check Out: Retail Clinics and Emergency Room Use (September, 2017). FRB of Chicago Working Paper No. WP-2017-11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3034621

Diane Alexander

University of Pennsylvania - Health Care Management ( email )

204 Colonial Penn Center
3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, 19104-6218
United States

Janet Currie (Contact Author)

Princeton University ( email )

Princeton, NJ 08544-1021
United States
6092587393 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.princeton.edu/~jcurrie

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Molly Schnell

Northwestern University - Department of Economics ( email )

2003 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
United States

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