The Effect of the Price of Time on Healthcare Provider Choice In Ghana
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Date
2022
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Publisher
Humanities And Social Sciences Communications
Abstract
The existing literature confirms that the cost of treatment affects the choice of a particular
healthcare provider. The Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme was established in 2003
to reduce the cost of healthcare provision and increase access to healthcare. However, we
find that that even when the price is assumed to be “zero”, there remain some economic
costs for choosing a particular healthcare provider over another. This is called the price of
time or opportunity cost. The study uses data from the seventh round of the Ghana Living
Standards Survey (GLSS 7) conducted in 2016–2017 and employed multinomial probit
regression as the technique for the analysis. The study finds that travel time and waiting time
have significant effects on the choice of healthcare provider. If travel time and waiting time
increase by 1 hour, it will decrease the probability of seeking healthcare by 12% and 17%,
respectively. Travel cost were not found to have a significant effect. The recommendations are:
that policymakers should make the effort to decrease travel time and waiting time at the
health facilities in the country to improve healthcare delivery
Description
Research Article
Keywords
healthcare, Ghana, price of time