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Does competition for transplantable hearts encourage 'gaming' of the waiting list?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Scanlon, DP; Hollenbeak, CS; Lee, W; Loh, E; Ubel, PA
Published in: Health affairs (Project Hope)
March 2004

Transplant centers may "game" the severity of listed patients to increase their patients' likelihood of receiving transplantable organs. Recent lawsuits allege gaming at some centers, and listing policies were modified in 1999 to clarify listing criteria. We tested for gaming and its relationship to heart transplant center competition. We found that increased competition resulted in more patients listed in the most severe illness category (p < .01), consistent with the gaming hypothesis. Gaming was mitigated after the 1999 policy change (p > .05), which suggests that the new rules were effective. Continued monitoring is warranted, given prior gaming and recent accusations.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Health affairs (Project Hope)

DOI

EISSN

1544-5208

ISSN

0278-2715

Publication Date

March 2004

Volume

23

Issue

2

Start / End Page

191 / 198

Related Subject Headings

  • Waiting Lists
  • United States
  • Tissue and Organ Procurement
  • Humans
  • Heart Transplantation
  • Health Policy & Services
  • 4407 Policy and administration
  • 4203 Health services and systems
  • 1402 Applied Economics
  • 1117 Public Health and Health Services
 

Citation

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Chicago
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Scanlon, D. P., Hollenbeak, C. S., Lee, W., Loh, E., & Ubel, P. A. (2004). Does competition for transplantable hearts encourage 'gaming' of the waiting list? Health Affairs (Project Hope), 23(2), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.23.2.191
Scanlon, Dennis P., Christopher S. Hollenbeak, Woolton Lee, Evan Loh, and Peter A. Ubel. “Does competition for transplantable hearts encourage 'gaming' of the waiting list?Health Affairs (Project Hope) 23, no. 2 (March 2004): 191–98. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.23.2.191.
Scanlon DP, Hollenbeak CS, Lee W, Loh E, Ubel PA. Does competition for transplantable hearts encourage 'gaming' of the waiting list? Health affairs (Project Hope). 2004 Mar;23(2):191–8.
Scanlon, Dennis P., et al. “Does competition for transplantable hearts encourage 'gaming' of the waiting list?Health Affairs (Project Hope), vol. 23, no. 2, Mar. 2004, pp. 191–98. Epmc, doi:10.1377/hlthaff.23.2.191.
Scanlon DP, Hollenbeak CS, Lee W, Loh E, Ubel PA. Does competition for transplantable hearts encourage 'gaming' of the waiting list? Health affairs (Project Hope). 2004 Mar;23(2):191–198.

Published In

Health affairs (Project Hope)

DOI

EISSN

1544-5208

ISSN

0278-2715

Publication Date

March 2004

Volume

23

Issue

2

Start / End Page

191 / 198

Related Subject Headings

  • Waiting Lists
  • United States
  • Tissue and Organ Procurement
  • Humans
  • Heart Transplantation
  • Health Policy & Services
  • 4407 Policy and administration
  • 4203 Health services and systems
  • 1402 Applied Economics
  • 1117 Public Health and Health Services