aeaweb.org
Defying Distance? The Provision of Medical Services in the Digital Age
(Forthcoming Article) - Digital platforms reduce geographic frictions, enabling better matching between service
providers and users. I quantify reallocation gains in Swedish online healthcare, using nationwide
time-conditional random assignment between patients and physicians. Matching high-risk
patients with doctors effective at reducing Emergency Room visits lowers such visits by 4.4%
(s.e. 1.3); reallocations also reduce counter-guideline antibiotics by 3.1% (1.4). I find limited
trade-offs in matching: horizontal differentiation among doctors and varied patient needs allow
improvement in multiple outcomes simultaneously. Efficiency-enhancing reallocations also affect
equity. The findings highlight the potential for care reorganization aligning provider heterogeneity
with patient needs when geographic constraints are lifted.
