MHA 710 - Healthcare Economics - Exam 3

In order to be a successful price discriminator, a provider must have a degree of market power (depicted by a downward-sloping demand curve) and meet what other condition(s)? a. Customers cannot know that different prices are being charged. b. Markets must be segmentable, identifying differences in ability to pay. c. Demand for services must be relatively price elastic. d. Profitable service expansion opportunities must be limited. e. The provider must have excess capacity to accommodate the extra business. - Answer-b. Markets must be segmentable, identifying differences in ability to pay. Legislation considered by Congress to restrict legal immigration would: a. surprise many policymakers because Congress finds it difficult to agree on much of anything regarding immigration. b. improve employment prospects for native-born Americans. c. have little effect on medical markets, as so few physicians practicing medicine in the United States are foreigners. d. raise the costs of operating in many of the nation's rural and inner-city hospitals. e. allow more Americans trained abroad to compete for openings in United States' residency programs. - Answer-d. raise the costs of operating in many of the nation's rural and inner-city hospitals. Physicians who own their own diagnostic testing facilities tend to order more tests, charge higher fees for them, and have higher total bills to patients. This practice of self-referral is an example of: a. cognitive dissonance. b. physician-induced demand. c. moral hazard. d. adverse selection. e. res ipsa loquitur. - Answer-b. physician-induced demand. Which of the following statements is true concerning the trend in community hospital care between inpatient and outpatient services since the mid-1980s? a. Both inpatient and outpatient services have been declining. b. There has been no noticeable trend in either inpatient or outpatient services. c. Both inpatient and outpatient services have been growing. d. Outpatient services have been growing, while inpatient services have been declining. e. Outpatient services have been declining, while inpatient services have been growing. - Answer-d. Outpatient services have been growing, while inpatient services have been declining. The amount that Medicare pays a hospital for treating a Medicare patient is determined: a. at the point when the diagnosis is made. b. at the time of admission to the hospital. c. before the patient sees a physician. d. after the hospital bill is reviewed by Medicare auditors.