Supply-side variation in the use of emergency departments

We study the role of person- and place-specific factors in explaining geographic variation emergency department utilization using detailed data on 150,000 patients who moved regions within Israel. document that about half destination-origin differences average rate across districts translates to change (up or down) movers’ propensity visit department. In contrast, we find no probability having a hospital admission through Similar results are obtained complementary event study, which uses entry as source variation. The from both approaches suggest supply-side access affects only less severe cases—for close substitutes likely exist—and physicians their admit is not explained by factors, such incentives, capacity, diagnostic quality.