Assessing the Appropriateness of Care
How Much Is Too Much?
This research brief describes work documented in The RAND (RP-395).
Excerpt: Spiraling health care expenditures, which exceeded $1 trillion in 1996, have driven policymakers to explore a variety of economic incentives for reducing utilization and controlling costs. Although these incentives are intended to promote optimal utilization, they have, instead, been shown to decrease the use of both unnecessary and necessary care. This suggests that financial incentives designed to affect utilization need to incorporate some assessment of the appropriateness of the care being delivered.
Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Web-Only
- Document Number: RB-4522
- Year: 1998
- Series: Research Briefs
This report is part of the RAND Corporation research brief series. RAND research briefs present policy-oriented summaries of individual published, peer-reviewed documents or of a body of published work.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2012 RAND Corporation.