{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Effect of patient death on referrals to cardiac specialists.
{Author}: Haye S;
{Journal}: Health Econ
{Volume}: 33
{Issue}: 8
{Year}: 2024 Aug 19
{Factor}: 2.395
{DOI}: 10.1002/hec.4840
{Abstract}: In this paper, I examine how patient death affects referrals from referring physicians to cardiac surgeons. I use Medicare data to identify pairs of referring physicians and cardiac surgeons who experience a patient death after a major surgical procedure to examine how these events affect referrals. I construct counterfactuals for affected pairs using pairs that experience a patient death but five quarters in the future. I find that there is a significant decline in the number of referrals and probability of a referral from the referring physician to the cardiac surgeon after the patient's death.