AUTHOR=Walzer Stefan , Nuijten Mark , Wiesner Christof , Kaier Klaus , Johansson Per-Olov , Oertel Stephan 

TITLE=Microeconomic Surplus in Health Care: Applied Economic Theory in Health Care in Four European Countries

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2013.00017

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2013.00017

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> In economic theory economic surplus refers to two related quantities: Consumer and producer surplus. Applying this theory to health care “convenience” could be one way how consumer benefits might manifest itself.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Various areas of economic surplus were identified and subsequently screened and analyzed in Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, and the UK: Cesarean births, emergency room visits (nights or weekends), drug availability after test results, and response surplus. A targeted literature search was being conducted to identify the associated costs. Finally the economic surplus (convenience value) was calculated.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The economic surplus for different health care areas was being calculated. The highest economic surplus was obtained for the example of response surplus IVF-treatments in The Netherlands.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> The analyzed examples in this article support the underlying hypothesis for this research: “Value of convenience defined as the consumer surplus in health care can be shown in different health care settings.” Again, this hypothesis should be accepted as a starting point in this research area and hence further primary research is strongly recommended in order to fully proof this concept.</p>