CHE Seminar Series: The effect of outpatient emergency care supply reductions on hospital admissions
The optimal allocation of patients in emergency care remains a critical policy challenge. Outpatient emergency facilities primarily operate during out-of-hours periods and treat low-acuity cases. In 2023, a Federal Social Court ruling in Germany led to sudden reductions in the supply of outpatient emergency care, resulting in closures and shortened operating hours for these facilities. The resulting regional and temporal variation in emergency care availability provides a natural experiment to examine the effects of changes in access to emergency care. This paper examines how reductions in outpatient emergency care supply affected hospital inpatient admissions. I combine administrative hospital data with hand-collected data on outpatient emergency facilities. Using variation from the 2023 Federal Social Court ruling, I examine the effect on hospital inpatient admissions when outpatient emergency care becomes less accessible. The findings contribute to understanding emergency care substitution and have implications for health system organization, particularly regarding the structure and financing of emergency care.
Speaker profile
Yasemin Karamik is a doctoral researcher at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and a visiting fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (2025-2026). She is a researcher at ZEW Mannheim's Research Group "Health Care Markets and Health Policy," where she previously served as advisor to the ZEW President. Her research examines competition, regulation, and innovation in health care markets, with a focus on hospital competition, telemedicine, and emergency care. Her research interests span empirical health economics and environmental economics.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu .
Event Details
- Date:
- 18 March 2026 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
- Venue:
- Caulfield campus, Building H, level 9, room H9.14
- Categories:
- CHE Seminar; General
Description
The optimal allocation of patients in emergency care remains a critical policy challenge. Outpatient emergency facilities primarily operate during out-of-hours periods and treat low-acuity cases. In 2023, a Federal Social Court ruling in Germany led to sudden reductions in the supply of outpatient emergency care, resulting in closures and shortened operating hours for these facilities. The resulting regional and temporal variation in emergency care availability provides a natural experiment to examine the effects of changes in access to emergency care. This paper examines how reductions in outpatient emergency care supply affected hospital inpatient admissions. I combine administrative hospital data with hand-collected data on outpatient emergency facilities. Using variation from the 2023 Federal Social Court ruling, I examine the effect on hospital inpatient admissions when outpatient emergency care becomes less accessible. The findings contribute to understanding emergency care substitution and have implications for health system organization, particularly regarding the structure and financing of emergency care.
Speaker profile
Yasemin Karamik is a doctoral researcher at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and a visiting fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (2025-2026). She is a researcher at ZEW Mannheim's Research Group "Health Care Markets and Health Policy," where she previously served as advisor to the ZEW President. Her research examines competition, regulation, and innovation in health care markets, with a focus on hospital competition, telemedicine, and emergency care. Her research interests span empirical health economics and environmental economics.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu .