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DESCRIPTION:Continuity of medical care is widely observed\, but it is often
  difficult to disentangle patients’ intrinsic preferences from system-impos
 ed switching costs. This paper exploits the Chinese healthcare setting\, wh
 ere patients can freely choose physicians at each visit and flexibly switch
  across hospitals and departments\, to isolate patients’ value of physician
  continuity. Estimating a discrete choice model\, we show that patients str
 ongly prefer to see the same physician despite minimal institutional barrie
 rs to switching\, indicating an intrinsic preference for continuity. We the
 n examine how physicians’ temporary leave affects patient behavior using a 
 stacked difference-in-differences design. A physician’s absence leads to si
 gnificant reductions in patient visits\, both within the physician’s depart
 ment and across other departments in the same hospital\, with no substituti
 on toward other hospitals and no detectable effects on health outcomes. Pat
 ients return to their original physicians once they resume practice. Moreov
 er\, patients with more severe conditions incur higher spending when forced
  to see a new physician. Overall\, our findings demonstrate that patients p
 lace substantial intrinsic value on physician continuity\, even in a health
 care system with highly flexible provider choice.\n\nSpeaker:\n\nYuli Xu jo
 ins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) as Asia 
 Health Policy Postdoctoral Fellow for the 2025-2026 academic year. She rece
 ntly obtained her Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California\, San 
 Diego. Her research focuses on Labor and Health Economics\, with particular
  interests in how female labor force participation and fertility decisions 
 are influenced by labor market institutions and past birth experiences. In 
 her thesis\, "Gendered Impacts of Privatization: A Life Cycle Perspective f
 rom China\," she demonstrates that the reduction in public sector employmen
 t has widened the gender gap in the labor market while narrowing the gender
  gap in educational attainment. She also finds that this structural shift h
 as delayed marriage among younger generations.\n\nIn another line of resear
 ch\, Yuli examines the effects of maternity ward overcrowding. She finds th
 at overcrowding reduces the use of medical procedures during childbirth wit
 hout negatively impacting maternal or infant health. While it has no direct
  effect on subsequent fertility\, she shows that mothers\, especially those
  with a college degree\, are more likely to switch to another hospital for 
 subsequent births after experiencing overcrowding. During her time at APARC
 \, Yuli will further investigate patient-physician relationships in the Chi
 nese healthcare system\, where patients have considerable flexibility in ch
 oosing their doctors at each visit. She will explore the persistence of the
 se relationships and examine how patients respond when their regular doctor
 s are temporarily unavailable.\n\nYuli also holds a B.A. in Economics from 
 the University of International Business and Economics in China.
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SUMMARY:Patients’ Value of Physician Continuity: Evidence from China
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51844770795950
URL:https://events.stanford.edu/event/patients-value-of-physician-continuit
 y-evidence-from-china
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