The Competitive Effects of Health Maintenance Organizations
type: CreativeWork
description: The rising cost of health care is a serious problem in the United States today. This thesis examines the competitive effect of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) on traditional providers of health care as a mechanism for cost control. First, a theoretical foundation for addressing the issue is provided. Three models of health care providers are developed: a dynamic model of an HMO; a model of a hospital providing services on a cost-based retrospective basis; and a hospital providing services to both charge-paying and cost-paying patients. From these models, two hypotheses emerge: (1) an increase in HMO presence in a market will lead to a decrease in hospital expenses; and (2) as HMO presence increases, the mix of hospital services provided will change, with a decrease in hospital inpatient utilization, and more reliance on less expensive ambulatory care.
abstract: The rising cost of health care is a serious problem in the United States today. This thesis examines the competitive effect of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) on traditional providers of health care as a mechanism for cost control. First, a theoretical foundation for addressing the issue is provided. Three models of health care providers are developed: a dynamic model of an HMO; a model of a hospital providing services on a cost-based retrospective basis; and a hospital providing services to both charge-paying and cost-paying patients. From these models, two hypotheses emerge: (1) an increase in HMO presence in a market will lead to a decrease in hospital expenses; and (2) as HMO presence increases, the mix of hospital services provided will change, with a decrease in hospital inpatient utilization, and more reliance on less expensive ambulatory care.
author: Krueger, Joan Alice
keywords: Economics, Finance
date published: 2014-12-16T18:34:54Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:26:05Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/71525