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Doctor Decision-Making and Patient Outcomes

Janet Currie et al.

Journal of Economic Literature2026https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20251762article
AJG 4ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Doctors often treat similar patients differently, which affects health outcomes and medical spending. We assess the recent literature on doctor decision-making through the lens of a model that incorporates diagnostic and procedural skills, beliefs, incentives, and differences in patient pools. Decision-making is affected by beliefs, training, experience, peer effects, financial incentives, and time constraints. Interventions to improve decision-making include providing information, guidelines, and technologies like electronic medical records and algorithmic decision tools. Economists have made progress in understanding doctor decision-making, but applications of that knowledge to improving health care are still limited. (JEL D83, D91, G51, I11, I14, J24, J44)

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20251762

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@article{janet2026,
  title        = {{Doctor Decision-Making and Patient Outcomes}},
  author       = {Janet Currie et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Economic Literature},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20251762},
}

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Doctor Decision-Making and Patient Outcomes

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.