Essays on hospital-level economic outcomes : evidence from psychedelic decriminalization and health system data breaches.

This dissertation quantifies how legal, clinical, and technological disruptions shape U.S. hospital economics through three essays. Essay 1 exploits staggered city-wide psychedelic decriminalization (2019-2022) using difference-in-differences methods, finding a 25 percent rise—about 33 extra cases per month—in psychosis-related emergency visits. Essay 2 links those policies to inpatient trajectories: proportional-hazards models show hallucinogen exposure raises subsequent psychosis risk five- to sixfold, exceeding cannabis, alcohol, or opioid risks and increasing with repeated exposures. Essay 3 examines 2009-2023 HIPAA breach data; quasi-experimental methods reveal transitory cost spikes that revert to baseline within five years, suggesting insurance coverage and managerial buffers limit losses. Collectively, the essays indicate psychedelic decriminalization generates persistent clinical demand while cybersecurity breaches impose fleeting financial strain. The findings offer evidence for lawmakers evaluating drug policy, hospital administrators planning psychiatric capacity, and insurers pricing cyber-risk, underscoring the diverse channels through which shocks reverberate across hospital balance sheets and patient care.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Black, J. L. (Jared L.), 1981-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cunningham, Scott, 1975-

• Health economics.
• Psychedelic decriminalization.
• Causal inference.
• Psychosis risk.
• Hospital data breaches.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/13911

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/13911