Well-Informed Choices? Effects of Information Interventions in Primary Care on Care Quality

Market frictions, such as imperfect information or hassle costs, may reduce the efficiency of consumer choice in healthcare settings. Thus, reducing such frictions may presumably lead to higher quality care. We use data from two randomized policy interventions in a Swedish region, which improved the access to information about primary care providers and reduced the switching costs of one percent of the adult population and of a sample of new residents. We examine the intervention effects on a large number of clinical process quality measures, access to care, and adverse health events, measured at the individual level. We find no significant effect of the interventions on any of the outcomes. A potential explanation is that although the individuals in the treatment arm were more likely to switch provider they did not switch to providers of higher clinical quality