Price effects of Dutch hospital mergers, An ex post assessment of hip surgery

This study analyses price effects of two mergers in the Dutch healthcare industry. We investigate whether the merging hospitals raised their prices for hip surgery after the merger and, if so, how patients react to this higher price. For the Ziekenhuis Hilversum – Ziekenhuis Gooi-Noord merger, we found a statistically significant price increase for hip surgery, whereas for the Erasmus MC ziekenhuis – Havenziekenhuis Rotterdam merger, we did not find a significant price increase due to the merger. For both mergers, travel behaviour of patients prior and after the merger increased only slightly. As we studied only one treatment, hip surgery, we cannot draw conclusions on the overall price effect of the mergers.