TABLE A4.1. Doctors’ Reported Knowledge of Regional Variation in Health Care Spending Studies |
|
Familiarity with studies about geographic variation in health care spending (0–4) |
|
Female (1=yes) |
−0.029 [0.164] |
Region=West |
−0.109 [0.187] |
Region=Northeast |
−0.073 [0.200] |
Region=Midwest |
−0.019 [0.212] |
Political interest (0=hardly at all; 3=most of the time) |
0.337 [0.084]** |
Respondent PID (-3=Str. Dem; 0=Ind.; 3=Str. Rep.) |
−0.01 [0.039] |
Years in practice |
0.014 [0.007]* |
Residency take place at VA? (1=yes) |
0.321 [0.147]* |
Practice affiliated w/academic med center (1=yes) |
0.241 [0.166] |
Respondent specialty=Medical specialty |
−0.187 [0.181] |
Respondent specialty=Surgical care |
0.103 [0.187] |
Income source=Salary plus bonus |
0.146 [0.202] |
Income source=Billing only |
0.112 [0.211] |
Income source=Other (including shift work or wages) |
0.673 [0.315]* |
Practice Type=Office based (specialty group) |
0.216 [0.378] |
Practice Type=Hospital based |
0.216 [0.180] |
Practice Type=Other (including group or staff model HMO) |
0.242 [0.211] |
Constant |
−0.355 [0.321] |
Observations |
324 |
R-squared |
0.109 |
Mean of Dependent Variable |
1.174 |
Note: OLS regression coefficients with robust standard errors in brackets. Dependent variable: 0=have not heard anything about studies; 1=not at all familiar; 2=only a bit familiar; 3=somewhat familiar; 4=very familiar. Omitted reference categories: Region=South; Respondent specialty=Primary Care; Income Source=Salary; Practice Type=Office based (solo or two-person). * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1% Source: Fall 2015 survey of physicians. |
TABLE A4.2. Doctors’ Reported Reasons for Regional Variation in Health Care Spending |
Note: OLS regression coefficients with robust standard errors in brackets. Dependent variable: 1=item contributes “a lot”; 0=all other responses. Results are statistically and substantively similar when estimated using logistic regression. Omitted reference categories: Region=South; Respondent specialty=Primary Care; Income Source=Salary; Practice Type=Office based (solo or two-person).* significant at 5%; ** significant at 1% Source: Fall 2015 survey of physicians. |
TABLE A4.3. Beliefs about the Causes of Regional Variation in Medicare Spending Predicts Doctors’ Beliefs about the Importance of Various Goals to Medical Societies |
||
Protecting clinical autonomy (1=not that important; 4=extremely important) |
Identifying physicians not following best practices and bringing to board (1=not that important; 4=extremely important |
|
Overuse of services of low or unproven value (1=none; 4=a lot) |
0.028 [0.076] |
0.198 [0.084]* |
Health status and medical needs of Medicare patients (1=none; 4=a lot) |
0.144 [0.060]* |
0.036 [0.082] |
Physicians’ beliefs in the value of certain treatments (1=none; 4=a lot) |
0.151 [0.066]* |
−0.072 [0.091] |
How much Medicare pays physicians (1=none; 4=a lot) |
0.083 [0.068] |
0.124 [0.071] |
Amount of care demanded by patients with the same condition (1=none; 4=a lot) |
0.007 [0.079] |
−0.041 [0.095] |
Availability of expensive medical technologies (1=none; 4=a lot) |
−0.073 [0.074] |
0.207 [0.087]* |
Threat of malpractice litigation is higher (1=none; 4=a lot) |
0.106 [0.084] |
0.026 [0.085] |
Underuse of services of high or proven value (1=none; 4=a lot) |
0 [0.084] |
0.163 [0.092] |
Female (1=yes) |
0.118 [0.112] |
−0.054 [0.133] |
Region=West |
−0.128 [0.119] |
−0.021 [0.156] |
Region=Northeast |
−0.16 [0.113] |
−0.053 [0.167] |
Region=Midwest |
−0.236 [0.140] |
0.022 [0.159] |
Political interest (0=hardly at all; 3=most of the time) |
0.107 [0.062] |
−0.026 [0.080] |
Respondent PID (-3=Str. Dem; 0=Ind.; 3=Str. Rep.) |
0.087 [0.027]** |
0.018 [0.032] |
Years in practice |
−0.014 [0.005]** |
−0.005 [0.006] |
Residency take place at VA? (1=yes) |
−0.005 [0.093] |
−0.109 [0.116] |
Practice affiliated w/academic med center (1=yes) |
−0.107 [0.107] |
0.024 [0.124] |
Respondent specialty=Medical specialty |
−0.048 [0.112] |
0.253 [0.147] |
Respondent specialty=Surgical care |
−0.24 [0.120]* |
−0.088 [0.163] |
Income source=Salary plus bonus |
−0.063 [0.123] |
0.099 [0.160] |
Income source=Billing only |
−0.005 [0.125] |
−0.096 [0.171] |
Income source=Other (including shift work or wages) |
−0.116 [0.232] |
−0.092 [0.254] |
Practice Type=Office based (specialty group) |
0.026 [0.206] |
−0.343 [0.321] |
Practice Type=Hospital based |
−0.015 [0.116] |
−0.031 [0.151] |
Practice Type=Other (including group or staff model HMO |
−0.181 [0.141] |
−0.006 [0.164] |
Constant |
2.16 [0.455]** |
0.628 [0.579] |
Observations |
315 |
312 |
R-squared |
0.165 |
0.127 |
Mean |
3.177 |
2.397 |
Note: OLS regression coefficients with robust standard errors in brackets. Dependent variable: 1=not that important; 2=moderately important; 3=very important; 4=extremely important goal. Omitted reference categories: Region=South; Respondent specialty=Primary Care; Income Source=Salary; Practice Type=Office based (solo or two-person). * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1% Source: Fall 2015 survey of physicians. |
TABLE A4.4. Doctors’ Beliefs about the Importance of Various Goals to Medical Societies |
Note: OLS regression coefficients with robust standard errors in brackets. Dependent variable: 1=very/extremely important goal; 0=not that/moderately important goal. Results are statistically and substantively similar when estimated using logistic regression. Omitted reference categories: Region=South; Respondent specialty=Primary Care; Income Source=Salary; Practice Type=Office based (solo or two-person). * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1% Source: Fall 2015 survey of physicians. |
TABLE A4.5. What Should Medical Societies Do When a Medical Journal Publishes a Study That Calls into Question a Treatment? |
Note: OLS regression coefficients with robust standard errors in brackets. Dependent variable: 1=support (somewhat or strongly); 0=oppose (somewhat or strongly) or neither oppose nor support. Results are statistically and substantively similar when estimated using logistic regression. Omitted reference categories: Region=South; Respondent specialty=Primary Care; Income Source=Salary; Practice Type=Office based (solo or two-person). * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1% Source: Fall 2015 survey of physicians. |