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

INTRODUCTION 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. METHODS 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. RESULTS 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. CONCLUSION 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.