Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2021
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Diagnosing Quality: Learning, Amenities, and the Demand for Health Care

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Emilio Gutierrez, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
ShareBar

Abstract

We study the role of amenities in increasing demand for underutilized healthcare services. We evaluate the offer of a high-amenity diagnostic consultation for cataracts with a randomized price and find that a lower price for the high-amenity consultation increases surgery take-up by more than 50%. Structural estimates from a model of patient demand show that patients’ update to surgery valuation from experienced amenities is large (three-quarters of the update effect of wait time), and that price effects (e.g., sunk cost accounting or gift exchange) are much smaller, suggesting that providing amenities in initial interactions can increase adoption of underutilized services.

Keywords

Health Care Demand; Amenities; Health Care Quality; Cataracts; Surgery; Health Care and Treatment; Demand and Consumers; Quality; Learning; Mexico

Citation

Adhvaryu, Achyuta, Emilio Gutierrez, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo. "Diagnosing Quality: Learning, Amenities, and the Demand for Health Care." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-110, March 2021.
  • Read Now

About The Author

Jorge Tamayo

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Organizational Responses to Product Cycles

    By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Vittorio Bassi, Anant Nyshadham, Jorge Tamayo and Nicholas Torres
    • February 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (B)

    By: Jorge Tamayo, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal
    • February 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (A)

    By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago
More from the Authors
  • Organizational Responses to Product Cycles By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Vittorio Bassi, Anant Nyshadham, Jorge Tamayo and Nicholas Torres
  • Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (B) By: Jorge Tamayo, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal
  • Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (A) By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College