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The price of success: saving the life of patients or reducing their emergency admissions?

Thursday 14 January 2016, 2.00PM to 3.15pm

Speaker(s): Dr Mauro Laudicella, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics, City University London

Abstract: Admissions for emergency hospital care are growing rapidly in many health systems. In the US and England policy makers have attempted to curb these rising trends by introducing heavy financial penalties for hospitals, but with little apparent impact. Our study shows that more than one third of the rise in emergency admissions in England over the past ten years can be explained by the increasing success of hospitals in saving the life of their patients. This success has given rise over time to a frailer population of patients at higher risk of an emergency readmission when discharged from hospital. The current system of penalties might therefore impose an unwarranted burden on high quality hospitals, with adverse consequences for their financial stability and the safety of their patients. In contrast, new policies promoting integrated care might prove more effective if extending their support to patients with past hospitalisations for acute conditions.

Location: Alcuin A Block A/019/20

Who to contact

For more information on these seminars, contact:

Adrian Villasenor
Adrian Villasenor-Lopez
Dacheng Huo
Dacheng Huo

If you are not a member of University of York staff and are interested in attending the seminar, please contact Adrian Villasenor-Lopez or Dacheng Huo so that we can ensure we have sufficient space

CHE Seminar Programme

  • Thursday 12 January 2017
    Jon Sussex, Chief Economist, RAND Europe
  • Thursday 9 February 2017
    Richard Murray, Kings Fund