Exploring Physician Responses to Patients' Extramedical Characteristics: The Decision to Hospitalize

The influence of patients' extramedical characteristics on physician decisions to hospitalize patients is examined by use of the hypothetical case approach. In addition, physician and market condition characteristics are examined as possible correlates of physician responsiveness to patients' extramedical conditions. The findings provide additional evidence that, for at least some cases, the likelihood of a physician's admitting a patient to the hospital is influenced by the patient's living arrangements, travel time to the physician's office, and the extent to which medical care would cause a financial hardship for the patient. Variation in physician responsiveness to these extramedical conditions is quite large. This variation in responsiveness is not consistently related to physician specialty or hospital occupancy rates, but is correlated with physician time spent giving outpatient care.