Real Output in Mental Health Care during the 1990s

Ernst R. Berndt, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alisa B. Busch, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital
Richard G. Frank, Harvard Medical School
Sharon-Lise Normand, Harvard Medical School

Abstract

Health accounts document changes over time in the level and composition of health spending. There has been a continued evolution in the ability to track such outlays. Less rapid has been the ability to interpret changes in spending. In this paper we apply quality adjusted price indexes for several major mental disorders to national mental health expenditure account estimates to assess changes in real "output". We show that using the new price indexes reveals large gains in real output relative to the application of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' indexes.

Recommended Citation

Ernst R. Berndt, Alisa B. Busch, Richard G. Frank, and Sharon-Lise Normand (2006) "Real Output in Mental Health Care during the 1990s," Forum for Health Economics & Policy: Vol. 9: Iss. 1 (Frontiers in Health Policy Research), Article 5.
http://www.bepress.com/fhep/9/1/5

 
 
 
 

ISSN: 1558-9544 ©1999-2008 The Berkeley Electronic Press™ All rights reserved.

To submit, subscribe, recommend this journal to your library, or sign up for email alerts, please visit: http://www.bepress.com/fhep