Access to medical care and how it differs for various patients remain key policy issues. While existing work has examined clinic structure’s influence on productivity, less research has explored the link between provider mix and access for different patient types – which also correspond to different service prices. We exploit experimental data from a large field study spanning 10 US states where trained audit callers were randomly assigned an insurance status and then contacted primary care physician practices seeking new patient appointments. We find clinics with more non-physician clinicians are associated with better access for Medicaid patients and lower prices for office visits; however, these relationships are only found in states granting full practice autonomy to these providers. Substituting more non-physician labor in primary care settings may facilitate greater appointment availability for Medicaid patients, but this likely rests on a favorable policy environment. Relaxing regulations for non-physicians may be an important initiative as US health reforms continue and also relevant to other countries coping with greater demands for medical care and related financial strain.

Sudden hospital closures displace patients from usual sources of care and force them to access facilities that lack their prior medical records. For patients with complex needs and for nearby hospitals already strained by high volume, disaster-related hospital closures induce a public health emergency. Our objective was to analyze responses of patients from public versus private emergency departments after closure of their usual hospital after Hurricane Sandy. Using a statewide database of emergency visits, we followed patients with an established pattern of accessing 1 of 2 hospitals that closed after Hurricane Sandy: Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU Langone Medical Center. We determined how these patients redistributed for emergency care after the storm. We found that proximity strongly predicted patient redistribution to nearby open hospitals. However, for patients from the closed public hospital, this redistribution was also influenced by hospital ownership, because patients redistributed to other public hospitals at rates higher than expected by proximity alone. This differential response to hospital closures demonstrates significant differences in how public and private patients respond to changes in health care access during disasters. Public health response must consider these differences to meet the needs of all patients affected by disasters and other public health emergencies. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:256-264).

This study used data from a multinational phase III randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of tirilazad mesylate (Freedox®) in the treatment of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. In men, therapy with 6 mg/kg per day of tirilazad mesylate was associated with significantly increased survival, increased cost of care, and ratios of cost per death averted that compare favorably with the ratios of other life and death interventions. In women, it appeared to have no effects on costs or survival. Further clinical studies may provide additional information about the cost-effectiveness of this intervention.