The relationship between practice intensity and the quality and outcomes of care has not been studied.

This study is motivated by the potential problem of using observational data to draw inferences about treatment outcomes when experimental data are not available. We compare two statistical approaches, ordinary least-squares (OLS) and instrumental variables (IV) regression analysis, to estimate...

Using merged physician survey and Medicare claims data, this study analyzes how fee levels, market factors, and financial incentives affect physicians’ fee-for-service Medicare service volume. We find that Medicare fees are positively related to both the number of beneficiaries treated...