Geir Godager

Gil‐Moltó, M. J., Hole, A. R., Andersson, H., & Godager, G. (2025) The Impact of Incentives on Valuing Health Risks. Health Economics, 34(10), 1907-1920. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.70011 

Snilsberg, Ø., Tyrihjell, J. B., & Godager, G. (2025) 
Career duration in general practice: Evidence from Two Decades of Norwegian Registry Data. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948251394639  

Godager, Geir; Scott, Anthony (2023)
Physician Behavior and Health Outcomes. Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, 1-24.

Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir; Wang, Jian (2022)
Exploring physician agency under demand-side cost sharing—An experimental approach. Health Economics ;31.(6) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hec.4489

Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir (2021)
Predicting strategic medical choices: An application of a quantal response equilibrium choice model. Journal of Choice Modelling ; 39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocm.2021.100282

Cheo, Roland; Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir; Liu, Rugang; Wang, Jian; Wang, Qiqi (2020)
The effect of a mystery shopper scheme on prescribing behavior in primary care: Results from a field experiment. Health Economics Review  ;10.(33) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-020-00290-z 

Wang, Jian; Iversen, Tor; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike; Godager, Geir (2020)
Are patient-regarding preferences stable? Evidence from a laboratory experiment with physicians and medical students from different countries. European Economic Review  ; 125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103411

Godager, Geir; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike; Iversen, Tor (2016)
Does performance disclosure influence physicians’ medical decisions? An experimental study. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization  ; 131. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2015.10.005

Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor; Ma, Ching-To Albert (2015)
Competition, gatekeeping, and health care access. Journal of Health Economics ; 39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.11.005

Godager, Geir; Wiesen, Daniel (2013)
Profit or Patients' Health Benefit? Exploring the Heterogeneity in Physician Altruism. Journal of Health Economics ;32.(6) https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2013.08.008

Godager, Geir (2012)
Birds of a feather flock together: A study of doctor-patient matching. Journal of Health Economics ;31.(1)  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.11.003

Godager, Geir; Lurås, Hilde (2009)
Dual job holding general practitioners: the effect of patient shortage. Health Economics ; 18.(10)  https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hec.1418

• Godager, Geir (2026). 7. Allmennlegetjenestene. I Berg, Ole Trond; Hagen, Terje P.; Gjefsen, Hege Marie; Godager, Geir; Hart, Rannveig Kaldager; Kinge, Jonas Minet; Holte, Jon Helgheim; Aas, Eline; Kittelsen, Sverre A.C.; Moger, Tron Anders; Tjerbo, Trond; Veggeland, Frode & Øien, Henning (Red.), Organisering og finansering av helsetjenester. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245061505. s. 151–176. doi: 10.55669/oa180907. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Allmennlegetjenestene, med fastlegeordningen som bærebjelke, spiller en avgjørende rolle i det norske helsevesenet. Da fastlegeordningen ble innført i 2001, representerte den et paradigmeskifte i organiseringen og finansieringen av primærhelsetjenesten. Overgangen fra faste driftstilskudd til per capita-betaling kombinert med stykkprisbetaling endret insentivstrukturen for både leger og kommuner. Dette bidro til å snu situasjonen fram legemangel til en situasjon med pasientmangel. De økonomiske insentivene har vist seg å være kraftfulle styringsverktøy. Per capita-betalingen motiverer fastlegene til å ta listeansvar for flere pasienter, mens stykkprisbetalingen gir insentiver for aktivitet og tilgjengelighet. Kombinasjonen gjør det mulig med lavere stykkpriser enn hva som ville vært mulig dersom legene bare mottok stykkprisbetaling. For kommunene medførte fastlegeordningen at utgiftene til allmennlegetjenesten ble uavhengige av tallet på allmennleger i kommunen, noe som gjorde det mer attraktivt å opprette nye fastlegestillinger. Samspillet mellom disse faktorene bidro til reduserte ventetider og bedre kontinuitet i lege-pasient-forholdet. Etter hvert oppstod kapasitetsutfordringer og ny legemangel. Svaret på dette var å øke fastlegenes basistilskudd og å innføre et pasienttilpasset basistilskudd fra 2023. Etter disse tiltakene har kapasitetsutviklingen snudd. Tallet på fastleger har økt sterkt i årene i 2023–2025, og det har bidratt til at kapasiteten i fastlegeordningen, målt ved samlet listetak, har økt betydelig.

• Godager, Geir & Hagen, Terje P. (2026). 3. Betalingssystemer. I Berg, Ole Trond; Hagen, Terje P.; Gjefsen, Hege Marie; Godager, Geir; Hart, Rannveig Kaldager; Kinge, Jonas Minet; Holte, Jon Helgheim; Aas, Eline; Kittelsen, Sverre A.C.; Moger, Tron Anders; Tjerbo, Trond; Veggeland, Frode & Øien, Henning (Red.), Organisering og finansering av helsetjenester. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245061505. s. 39–83. doi: 10.55669/oa180903. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Utformingen av betalingssystemer for helsetjenesteleverandører er et betydningsfullt helsepolitisk virkemiddel. Betalingssystemer påvirker prak-tisk talt alle aspekter ved helsetjenesten ved å skape insentiver som former leverandørenes atferd, ressursallokering og til slutt pasientutfall. Selv om helsebeslutninger drives av kliniske hensyn og profesjonsetikk, har de øko-nomiske insentivene innebygd i betalingssystemene en betydelig påvirkning. Betalingssystemene etablerer den økonomiske strukturen som kliniske beslut-ninger tas innenfor.

• Godager, Geir; Kaarbøe, Oddvar Martin; Moger, Tron Anders & Aars, Ole Kristian (2026). Content matters - sending emails to ensure appropriate use of laboratory fees. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. ISSN 2214-8043. 123. doi: 10.1016/j.socec.2026.102599. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This study examines communication interventions' impact on general practitioners' (GPs) claiming of fees for laboratory tests. GPs, who recently claimed laboratory fees, were randomly assigned to two intervention groups (Mild and Strong) or a control group. Initially, both intervention groups received an email emphasizing the importance of utilizing lab tests judiciously, the range of conditions tested, and the need for patients to bear the costs of unnecessary tests. In a subsequent phase, a reminder email was sent with different content. The Mild group received a reiteration of the initial email, while the Strong group was reminded of the economic consequences and potential impact on access to other healthcare services, as stated in the ethical guidelines of the Norwegian Medical Association. Results show that the first email had no effect on either intervention group. However, the reminder email significantly influenced the Strong group, leading to a reduction in tests and conditions. Importantly, this effect differed statistically from the impact observed in the Mild group in terms of test utilization.

• Brodeur, Abel; Mikola, Derek; Cook, Nikolai; Fiala, Lenka; Brailey, Thomas & Briggs, Ryan [Vis alle 347 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2026). Reproducibility and robustness of economics and political science research. Nature. ISSN 0028-0836. 652, s. 151–156. doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-10251-x. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Science aspires to be cumulative. Reproducibility efforts strengthen science by testing the reliability of published findings, promoting self-correction, and informing policy-making1. Computational reproductions, whereby independent researchers reproduce the results of published studies, are an essential diagnostic tool2–10. Such efforts should have greater visibility11–16. However, little social science reproduction and robustness has been conducted at scale10,13,17–23. Here we reproduced original analyses and conducted robustness checks of 110 articles that were published in leading economics and political science journals with mandatory data and code sharing policies17,18. We found that more than 85% of published claims were computationally reproducible. In robustness checks, our reanalyses showed that 72% of statistically significant estimates remain significant and in the same direction, and the median reproduced effect size is nearly the same as the originally published effect size (that is, 99% of the published effect size). Additionally, 6 independent research teams examined 12 pre-specified hypotheses about determinants of robustness. Research teams with more experience found lower levels of robustness, and robustness did not correlate with author characteristics or data availability. Robustness checks and reproduction of analyses with existing and updated data based on 110 articles in economics and political science journals with data and code-sharing requirements found high levels of robustness and reproducibility and determined that robustness was not dependent on author characteristics or data availability.

• Bennett, Schyler Marie; Anthun, Kjartan Sarheim; Bjerkeset, Ottar; Godager, Geir; Bjørngaard, Johan Håkon & Edwards, Christina Hansen (2026). The effect of general practitioners’ sex and age on patients’ healthcare utilization: a Norwegian registry study. Research in Health Services and Regions. 5. doi: 10.1007/s43999-026-00086-4. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Purpose This study aims to estimate the associations of general practitioner (GP) sex and age with patients’ use of specialist and out-of-hours healthcare services in Norway, using a quasi-experimental design that leverages patient assignment to a GP to reduce bias from patient-GP matching. Methods Using national registry data on 1,884,665 adult patients assigned to a GP from 2008 to 2021, we exploited quasi-random assignment of patients to GPs to estimate the associations of the assigned GP’s sex or age with patient healthcare utilization in the three years after assignment. Poisson regression analyses were used for binary outcomes (contact/no contact), and linear regressions for continuous measures (number of contact days) of healthcare utilization, each with multi-level fixed effects to adjust for confounding. Analyses were stratified by patient groups defined by history of mental health diagnosis. Results GP sex and age generally had small or null associations with healthcare utilization. A small negative association was observed for non-acute outpatient mental and somatic healthcare, but this was not consistent across groups defined by mental health diagnostic history. GP sex or age showed no consistent associations with other outcomes. Conclusion As the GP workforce undergoes demographic changes—with an increasing share of younger and female physicians—these results suggest that such characteristics are unlikely to be strongly associated with individual patients’ use of specialist or out-of-hours mental and somatic healthcare services.

• Godager, Geir; Obrizan, Maksym & Pompeo, Monika (2025). Can AI Help Ukraine's Mental Health Crisis? New Evidence on Digital Support During War. Vox Ukraine. doi: https:/voxukraine.org/chy-mozhe-shi-dopomogty-podolaty-kryzu-psyhichnogo-zdorov-ya-v-ukrayini-novi-dani-pro-tsyfrovu-pidtrymku-pid-chas-vijny. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  As the full-scale war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, new nationally representative data reveal a silent mental health crisis...

• Snilsberg, Øyvind; Tyrihjell, Johannes & Godager, Geir (2025). Career duration in general practice: Evidence from Two Decades of Norwegian Registry Data. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. ISSN 1403-4948. doi: 10.1177/14034948251394639. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Background: Resignations among general practitioners (GPs) have been cited as a contributing factor to challenges in Norway’s GP scheme. Aim: To analyse trends in GP exit rates and examine whether there is evidence of systematic changes in these rates over time. Design and setting: Registry-based observational study of all GPs in Norway since the scheme’s implementation in 2001. Method: Exit rates were calculated for the entire study period and by year. Significant deviations were identified using 95% confidence intervals with Bonferroni corrections for multiple hypothesis testing. Results: GP exit rates declined until age 50 years and remained low until retirement at 67. This pattern was stable throughout the study period (2002–2022). Only two significant deviations occurred: higher-than-expected rates for 67-year-olds in 2007 and 41-year-olds in 2010. Conclusions: GP exit rates remained stable over the study period, with no evidence suggesting increased exits as a major factor in the current challenges facing Norway’s GP scheme.

• Kongstad, Line Planck; Damslund, Nicolai; Søndergaard, Jens; Godager, Geir & Olsen, Kim Rose (2025). Do Physicians Respond to Additional Capitation Payments in Mixed Remuneration Schemes? Health Economics. ISSN 1057-9230. 34(6), s. 1143–1159. doi: 10.1002/hec.4954. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Mixed remuneration schemes with capitation and fee‐for‐service (FFS) payments hold financial incentives to add patients to the list and provide services to listed patients. However, as patients with complex needs tend to require longer consultations there is a risk of inequality in access if fees are not adjusted to patient characteristics. In this paper, we assess a natural experiment introducing additional capitation for GPs with a high share of complex patients (moderate scheme) and for GPs in certain geographical areas (intensive scheme). GPs are eligible if the complexity of their listed patients exceeds a threshold, but as the scheme is subject to a national budget constraint, some eligible general practitioners (GPs) are left without additional payment. For the most favored GPs, the reform distributed additional capitation at 8% of the total baseline income. We study the effects on the number of patients per GP and the number of services per patient, applying difference‐in‐difference (DiD) models. For both schemes (moderate and intensive), we find tendencies of reductions in the number of patients served and the level of service provision per patient. This also holds for complex patients indicating that the reform did not improve equity in access. The effect on income showed a 2.5% increase in the first follow‐up year but the effect became insignificant in the second year after the reform. We interpret this result as a sign that GPs trade income increases with leisure as suggested by the target income hypothesis.

• Galizzi, Matteo; Godager, Geir; Li, Jing; Linnosmaa, Ismo; Tammi, Timo & Wiesen, Daniel (2025). Economics of Healthcare Provider Altruism. I Zimmermann, Klaus F. (Red.), Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer. ISSN 9783319573656. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_357-1. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the main theoretical notions and empirical findings on altruism among physicians and other healthcare providers. While altruism in the behavioral and experimental economics literature is typically defined as a deviation from purely self-interested behavior, the theoretical health economics literature embeds the notion of physician altruism within the doctor–patient relationship. The altruism of physicians is typically defined as the weight in the doctor’s utility function attached to patient’s health benefits, besides the self-interested monetary considerations. The chapter broadly groups the empirical evidence into three main categories of evidence: evidence from (i) survey and interview data, (ii) prescriptions records, and (iii) behavioral experiments. Across each of those groups of studies and different methods, the evidence generally supports the theoretical notion that physicians behave “altruistically” in their healthcare decisions. Some studies indicate, however, considerable heterogeneity in physicians’ altruistic preferences.

• Kinge, Jonas Minet; Øien, Henning; Dieleman, Joseph L.; Reme, Bjørn-Atle; Knudsen, Ann Kristin Skrindo & Godager, Geir [Vis alle 11 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2025). Forecasting total and cause-specific health expenditures for 116 health conditions in Norway, 2022–2050. BMC Medicine. 23(1). doi: 10.1186/s12916-025-03917-2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Background This study forecasts total and cause-specific health expenditures in Norway to 2050 and quantifies the contribution of four key drivers—total population growth, population aging, changes in disease prevalence, and cost per case—on future health care spending. Methods We forecast spending for 116 health conditions in Norway from 2022 to 2050, using historical and forecasted data of population growth, disease prevalence, gross domestic product (GDP), health spending, and residual factors. Our analysis included a reference scenario that forecasted disease-specific health spending; two alternative scenarios examining the effects of alternative unit cost developments; and a scenario examining the consequences of improved behavioral and metabolic risk factors. Results Health spending increased from 10.6% (95% uncertainty interval, 10.2–11.1) of GDP in 2022 to 14.3% (13.0–15.7) in 2050 in the reference scenario. Among the top aggregate causes of Norwegian health spending in 2022, the spending for neurological disorders rose the most, from 1.7% (1.6–1.8) to 2.7% (2.3–3.1) of GDP, surpassing mental and substance use disorders which rose from 2.2% (2.1–2.3) to 2.4% (2.2–2.6) of GDP. Of the 116 single conditions analyzed, dementias accounted for the highest spending in 2022. This expenditure was forecasted to increase considerably from 1.1% (1.09–1.2) to 1.9% (1.6–2.2) of GDP by 2050, largely due to population aging. Spending on other old-age-related conditions like falls, stroke, and diabetes, was also forecasted to increase. Increased population, aging, and spending per case contributed to increased future spending. Reduced behavioral and metabolic risks were forecasted to increase the number of elderly persons and reduce age-specific disease prevalence but had little impact on forecasted health spending. Conclusions Health spending growth was forecasted regardless of the scenario, and Norway needs to plan for this. However, policymakers can curb total spending growth, while maintaining health care quality and output, by ensuring more efficient allocation and effective use of resources. While the overall impact of behavioral and metabolic risk reductions on total healthcare spending was modest, reducing risk factors is needed if countries aim to achieve a healthier, longer-living population.

• Gil‐moltó, Maria José; Hole, Arne Risa; Andersson, Henrik & Godager, Geir (2025). The Impact of Incentives on Valuing Health Risks. Health Economics. ISSN 1057-9230. 34(10). doi: 10.1002/hec.70011. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Delalic, Lamija; Grøsland, Mari; Godager, Geir & Øien, Henning (2024). Continuity of care in general practice in Norway. PLOS ONE. 19(7). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305164. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Aims Maintaining continuity of care between doctors and patients is considered a fundamental aspect of quality in primary healthcare. In this study, we aim to examine continuity in Norway over time by computing two commonly used indicators of continuity: the St Leonard’s Index of Continuity of Care (SLICC) and the Usual Provider of Care Index (UPC). Method We employ individual-level data, which covers all primary care consultations. This data includes the identities of each patient and physician, and we can identify each patient’s regular general practitioner (GP). The SLICC is calculated as the share of consultations conducted by the patient’s regular GP annually from 2006 to 2021. Additionally, we identify each patient’s most visited physician and compute the UPC as the share of total consultations conducted by the most visited physician during the same period. Our analysis is conducted at the national level and stratified according to the level of centrality, differentiating between areas of high, moderate, and low centrality. Results Our findings reveal that, at the national level, SLICC and UPC exhibit remarkable stability, reaching 64 and 71 percent, respectively, in 2021. However, there is significant geographical variation, with the least central areas experiencing less continuous healthcare (SLICC at 49 percent in 2021) than patients residing in more central areas (SLICC at 68 in 2021). Conclusion Our results demonstrate a high degree of continuity that has been stable over time. However, large geographical variations suggest that policymakers should strive to reduce geographical disparities in healthcare quality.

• Aars, Ole Kristian; Godager, Geir; Kaarbøe, Oddvar Martin & Moger, Tron Anders (2024). Sending emails to reduce medical costs? The effect of feedback on general practitioners’ claiming of fees. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. ISSN 2214-8043. 109. doi: 10.1016/j.socec.2024.102178. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Audit and feedback is employed as a strategy to guide practices of health care professionals towards certain targets. The outcome of interest can be quality improvements, but also ensuring that health care workers adhere to relevant regulations. We conducted a nationwide field experiment in the Norwegian primary care sector to study the behavioral responses from giving general practitioners feedback (GPs) on their claiming of fees. The email-based feedback intervention targeted GPs who most frequently claimed fees for double consultations and provided them with a reminder of the formal regulations for double consultations. The intervention caused a 3–4 percentage point reduction in the use of the double-consultation fee, reducing the yearly health care spending of the Norwegian government by approximately €480 000 per year. This substantial and durable behavioral response found in our study sample comprising 15 % of Norwegian GPs, shows that low-cost interventions via email can have significant financial impact.

• Sten-Gahmberg, Susanna; Pedersen, Kine; Harsheim, Ingrid gaarder; Løyland, Hanna Isabel; Snilsberg, Øyvind & Iversen, Tor [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2024). Pragmatic randomized controlled trial comparing a complex telemedicine-based intervention with usual care in patients with chronic conditions. European Journal of Health Economics. ISSN 1618-7598. 25, s. 1275–1289. doi: 10.1007/s10198-023-01664-w. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This study evaluates a complex telemedicine-based intervention targeting patients with chronic health problems. Computer tablets and home telemonitoring devices are used by patients to report point-of-care measurements, e.g., blood pressure, blood glucose or oxygen saturation, and to answer health-related questions at a follow-up center. We designed a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to compare the telemedicine-based intervention with usual care in six local centers in Norway. The study outcomes included health-related quality of life (HRQoL) based on the EuroQol questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L), patient experiences, and utilization of healthcare. We also conducted a cost–benefit analysis to inform policy implementation, as well as a process evaluation (reported elsewhere). We used mixed methods to analyze data collected during the trial (health data, survey data and interviews with patients and health personnel) as well as data from national health registers. 735 patients were included during the period from February 2019 to June 2020. One year after inclusion, the effects on the use of healthcare services were mixed. The proportion of patients receiving home-based care services declined, but the number of GP contacts increased in the intervention group compared to the control group. Participants in the intervention group experienced improved HRQoL compared to the control group and were more satisfied with the follow-up of their health. The cost–benefit of the intervention depends largely on the design of the service and the value society places on improved safety and self-efficacy.

• Godager, Geir & Scott, Anthony (2023). Physician behavior and health outcomes. I Zimmermann, Klaus F. (Red.), Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer. ISSN 9783319573656. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_268-1. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  There is increasing empirical evidence of patient harmand resource waste from overdiagnosis, over-treatment, medical errors, and the underuse of effective care. This chapter reviews recent literature on physician behaviour and health outcomes. Research on the economics of physician behaviour takes a classical economic perspective based on using financial incentives to solve information problems in healthcare markets. The evidence on payment methods, competition and market organisation, and information interventions is summarised. Incentives matter, but may matter less in the presence of altruistic motives amongst most physicians, as well as the presence of complex multi-tasking decision environments. More contemporary research on physician behaviour has taken a behavioural perspective where it is acknowledged that physician decision making can be biased even in cases where incentive and information problems are absent. The large health services research literature on professional behaviour change incorporates behavioural and psychological perspectives yet integration into economic models of physician behaviour is still in its early stages. Though research on incentives continues to dominate the health economics literature, evidence suggests that behavioural approaches are important not only in understanding incentives, but in changing physicians’ behaviour using non-pecuniary interventions.

• Godager, Geir; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike; Li, Jing Jing; Wang, Jian & Yang, Fan (2023). Does gender affect medical decisions? Results from a behavioral experiment with physicians and medical students. Nordic Journal of Health Economics. ISSN 1892-9729. 6(1), s. 182–215. doi: 10.5617/njhe.10135. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  It is rarely the case in medical practice that differences between female and male physicians can be described under ceteris paribus conditions. Physicians self-select their type of practice, patients self-select physicians, and physicians are expected to account for both the context and the characteristics of their patients when providing medical treatment. As a result, reported gender differences in medical practice can have several alternative interpretations. A key question, therefore, is whether the treatment of a given patient is expected to depend on the gender of the physician. To address this question, we quantify gender effects using data from an incentivized laboratory experiment, in which Chinese medical doctors and Chinese medical students choose medical treatment under different payment schemes. We estimate preference parameters of females and males assuming decision makers have patient-regarding preferences. We cannot reject the hypothesis that gender differences in treatment choices are absent. The differences between preference parameters of females and males are not statistically significant, and there is no evidence that the degree of randomness in choices differs between genders. The absence of gender effects in the laboratory, where choice context is fixed, provides nuance to previous findings on gender differences, and highlights the general difficulty of separating individuals’ behavior from their context.

• Aas, Eline; Thorjussen, Christian B. Holth & Godager, Geir (2023). The Role of Health Status and Social Capital in Cancer Mortality: Insights from Matched Register and Survey Data. Nordic Journal of Health Economics. ISSN 1892-9729. 6(1), s. 6–27. doi: 10.5617/njhe.10304. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Cancer mortality has been shown to be associated with social- and human capital. Several channels have been suggested, such as early detection, better compliance to treatment and better health prior to diagnosis. In this paper we study how health status and social capital jointly affect cancer mortality and cancer severity at the time of diagnosis. The analyses are based on study sample of individuals with cancer diagnosis. Our merged dataset contain information on cancer diagnosis and death from the Cancer Registry of Norway and health status, social capital and other individual level data from several national health surveys measured before the time of diagnosis. Health status and social capital are treated as unobserved latent variables, and we apply generalized structural equation modelling framework to estimate conditional statistical associations of social capital and individual health on cancer severity and mortality. We find that health has negative, and statistically significant effect, on cancer mortality, while we cannot conclude on the association between health and cancer severity (metastasis yes/no). We cannot conclude that cancer mortality and the probability of cancer metastasis is associated nor disassociated with social capital. Our results add nuance to prior studies, which frequently report a significant association between social capital and cancer mortality.

• Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir & Wang, Jian (2022). Exploring physician agency under demand-side cost sharing—An experimental approach. Health Economics. ISSN 1057-9230. 31(6), s. 1202–1227. doi: 10.1002/hec.4489. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The assumption of patient-regarding physicians has been widely adopted in the health economics literature. Physicians' patient-regarding preferences are often described as the concern for the health benefits of medical treatments, and thus closely related to the norms and ethics of the Medical profession. In this paper, we ask whether physicians' patient-regarding preferences include a concern for their patient's consumption opportunities alongside patient's health benefits. To identify and quantify patient-regarding preferences, we design and conduct an incentivized laboratory experiment where choices determine separately the health benefit and the consumption opportunities of a real patient admitted to the nearest hospital. We find strong evidence that future physicians care about their patients' consumption opportunities.

• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2021). Data from an incentivized laboratory experiment on strategic medical choices. Data in Brief. 35. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2021.106926. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This paper presents data of medical choices determining physicians’ profit and patients’ health benefit under three levels of market competition: monopoly, duopoly, and quadropoly. The data was collected from 136 German university students in an incentivised laboratory experiment. The designed experimental parameters and the formula for computing the payoff matrices of the games are described in this paper as well. This data was analyzed by Ge and Godager (2020) who employed generalized multinomial logit models to investigate the relationship between market competition and determinism in behavior under a quantal response equilibrium paradigm. This data contributes to future investigation on alternative game theoretic equilibrium concepts and the development of empirical methods for studying strategic choice behavior.

• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2021). Predicting strategic medical choices: An application of a quantal response equilibrium choice model. Journal of Choice Modelling. 39, s. 1–14. doi: 10.1016/j.jocm.2021.100282. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Quantal response equilibrium choice (QREC) models are structural behavioral models that account for bounded rationality and strategic interactions in analyses of games where each player’s payoff is a vector. We revisit the question of how market competition affects pro-social behavior and fit a QREC model to data from an incentivized laboratory experiment, where the participants make decisions on medical treatment for abstract patients in monopoly, duopoly and quadropoly games. Our results demonstrate that competition can cause substantial behavioral responses without any changes in pro-social preferences if one allows for the possibility that competition influences the degree of randomness in decision-making. We find that a QREC model with fixed preference parameters provides precise out-of-sample predictions of behavior in games with vector payoffs. A Monte Carlo study is performed to show that the two-step estimator is accurate.

• Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor & Snilsberg, Øyvind (2021). Betalingsmåter for teamarbeid i primærhelsetjenesten. I Botten, Grete Synøve (Red.), Mangfold og engasjement i ti år. Institutt for helse og samfunn ved Universitetet i Oslo 2010-2020.. Norwegian Medical Society. ISSN 9788292871768. s. 100–109. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Cheo, Roland; Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir; Liu, Rugang; Wang, Jian & Wang, Qiqi (2020). The effect of a mystery shopper scheme on prescribing behavior in primary care: Results from a field experiment. Health Economics Review. 10(33). doi: 10.1186/s13561-020-00290-z. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Abstract Background Health care systems in many countries are characterized by limited availability of provider performance data that can be used to design and implement welfare improving reforms in the health sector. We question whether a simple mystery shopper scheme can be an effective measure to improve primary care quality in such settings. Methods Using a randomized treatment-control design, we conducted a field experiment in primary care clinics in a Chinese city. We investigate whether informing physicians of a forthcoming mystery shopper audit influences their prescribing behavior. The intervention effects are estimated using conditional fixed-effects logistic regression. The estimated coefficients are interpreted as marginal utilities in a choice model. Results Our findings suggest that the mystery shopper intervention reduced the probability of prescribing overall. Moreover, the intervention had heterogeneous effects on different types of drugs. Conclusions This study provides new evidence suggesting that announced performance auditing of primary care providers could directly affect physician behavior even when it is not combined with pay-for-performance, or measures such as reminders, feedback or educational interventions.

• Wang, Jian; Iversen, Tor; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Godager, Geir (2020). Are patient-regarding preferences stable? Evidence from a laboratory experiment with physicians and medical students from different countries. European Economic Review. ISSN 0014-2921. 125. doi: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103411. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  We quantify patient-regarding preferences by fitting a bounded rationality model to data from an incentivized laboratory experiment, where Chinese medical doctors, German medical students and Chinese medical students decide under different payment schemes. We find a remarkable stability in patient-regarding preferences when comparing subject pools and we cannot reject the hypothesis of equal patient-regarding preferences in the three groups. The results suggest that a health economic experiment can provide knowledge that reach beyond the student subject pool, and that the preferences of decision-makers in one cultural context can be of relevance in a very different cultural context.

• Iversen, Tor & Godager, Geir (2017). Fastlegen som portvakt. Michael. ISSN 1893-9651. 14(19), s. 43–59. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  I denne artikkelen viser vi hvordan en ordning med primærlegen som portvakt til spesialisthelsetjenesten kan medføre mer effektiv bruk av samfunnets ressurser. Siden primærlegen oftest har bedre diagnostiske kunnskaper enn pasientene, vil primærlegen kunne være bedre enn pasientene til å sortere hvilke pasienter som bør henvises til spesialisthelsetjenesten og hvilke pasienter primærlegen kan diagnostisere og behandle selv. En portvaktordning vil slik kunne bidra til en mer effektiv arbeidsdeling i helsesektoren. I situasjoner der et mindretall av pasientene trenger behandling i spesialisthelsetjenesten, vil primærlegen kunne bidra til å identifisere de tilfeller der behandling i spesialisthelsetjenesten er ønskelig for samfunnet. Om portvaktordningen faktisk medfører bedre bruk av samfunnets ressurser, vil da både avhenge av pasientenes egne kunnskaper, fastlegenes diagnostiske dyktighet, samt tida det tar å utføre portvaktfunksjonen. Vi beskriver teoretiske og empiriske studier som viser at avlønningsordningen for primærleger har betydning for hvor strengt portvaktrollen utøves. Et sentralt resultat fra litteraturen er at per capita avlønning medfører høyere henvisningsrate enn ytelsesbaserte takster og utvidet budsjettansvar. Et viktig spørsmål for framtidig forskning er om det finnes avlønningssystemer som oppmuntrer til en passe høy henvisningsrate vurdert ut fra kravet om god bruk av helsesektorens samlede ressurser.

Se alle arbeider i NVA

• Berg, Ole Trond; Hagen, Terje P.; Gjefsen, Hege Marie; Godager, Geir; Hart, Rannveig Kaldager & Kinge, Jonas Minet [Vis alle 13 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2026). Organisering og finansering av helsetjenester. Fagbokforlaget. ISBN 9788245061505. 414 s. doi: 10.55669/oa1809. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Boken gir en bred innføring i organisering og finansiering av helsetjenester, med vekt på norske forhold. Den innledende bolken omfatter kapitler om helsetjenestesystemer og forsikringsordninger, betalingssystemer og demografiske endringer. I de følgende bolkene brukes de grunnleggende begrepene til å beskrive og analysere kommunehelsetjenesten og spesialisthelsetjenesten, samt samhandlingen mellom de to nivåene. Enkelte policy-orienterte temaer, som effektivitet og likhet i tilbudet, analyseres i egne kapitler. Den avsluttende bolken er viet komparativ helsepolitikk, med beskrivelser av land med sosialforsikringsordninger og private helseforsikringer. Utviklingen av EUs helsepolitikk beskrives i et eget kapittel. Bokens underliggende perspektiv er at organisering og finansiering er virkemidler i offentlig helsepolitikk. Dette er instrumenter som kan brukes til å redusere ulikhet i tjenestetilbudet, øke effektiviteten og heve kvaliteten. Boken inneholder oppdatert kunnskap om reformer og piloter fra de siste tiårene, også reformer i andre land som har relevans for norske forhold.

Se alle arbeider i NVA

• Godager, Geir & Obrizan, Maksym (2026). Primary Healthcare Use During the Full-Scale War in Ukraine. Vox Ukraine. doi: https:/voxukraine.org/en/primary-healthcare-use-during-the-full-scale-war-in-ukraine. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Among the 1,306 respondents who had used public healthcare in the previous 12 months, half (52%) reported no problems with their local clinic or hospital. However, notable concerns remained: nearly one-quarter (23.7%) cited long waiting times, 16% reported unofficial or inappropriate payments, and about one in ten experienced disrespectful treatment (10.5%) or absent physicians (9.2%). Issues such as drug shortages (8.6%) and unclean facilities (2.1%) were less common but still visible. The analysis also identifies particularly vulnerable groups that are significantly less likely to have accessed public healthcare facilities in the last 12 months, including unemployed individuals (by 19.8 percentage points), internally displaced persons (by 9.3 percentage points), and respondents from Eastern Ukraine (by 6.9 percentage points). Overall, the results suggest that while most patients view their encounters as satisfactory, significant minorities continue to face administrative inefficiencies, poor service culture, and inequitable payment practices within the public healthcare system.

• Aas, Eline; Kinge, Jonas Minet; Burger, Emily Annika; Pedersen, Kine; Iversen, Tor & Godager, Geir [Vis alle 14 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2025). Feil tallgrunnlag kan koste liv i helsetjenesten. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2025). Hypothetical Bias and Patient-Regarding Preferences: Comparing Fully Incentivized and Conventional Stated Preference Experiments. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir & Obrizan, Maksym (2025). Mental Health During the War: When Bread Wins Over Bombs. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  What affects people’s mental health during war?

• Snilsberg, Øyvind; Tyrihjell, Johannes & Godager, Geir (2025). Career Duration in General Practice: Results from a Complete Nationwide Panel of General Practitioners in Norway. doi: https:/healtheconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IHEA-2025-Congress-Abstract-Book.pdf. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This study examines whether rising general practitioner (GP) resignations are contributing to capacity challenges in Norway's healthcare system. Using comprehensive registry data from 2001 to 2023 tracking 8,943 physicians (4,238 of whom left GP practice), we analyzed age-specific exit rates to determine if fundamental changes in GP's decision to exit the profession have occurred over the past two decades.

• Godager, Geir (2025). Economic Incentives and Primary Care Physician Service Delivery. doi: https:/healtheconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IHEA-2025-Congress-Abstract-Book.pdf. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Organized session at 2025 World Congress on Health Economics, (iHEA 2025)

• Godager, Geir (2025). The Norwegian GP Scheme: Recent Policies and Trends. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bennett, Schyler Marie; Schepers, Robin; Anthun, Kjartan Sarheim; Asheim, Andreas; Bjerkeset, Ottar & Godager, Geir [Vis alle 8 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2025). Could GPs’ time spent on mental health problems influence their patients’ use of specialist or out-of-hours care? | NHESG 2025. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2024). Is Patient Health a Public Good? Experimental Evidence on the Scope of Patient Regarding Preferences. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir & Ge, Ge (2024). Markets, Morals, and Metrics: the Impact of Analyst Discretion in Health Experiments. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Tyrihjell, Johannes Bjørnstad; Pedersen, Kine; Værnø, Susanne Gerda; Godager, Geir; Sen, Tor Iver & Holte, Jon Helgheim [Vis alle 11 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2024). Går vi mot en ny vri på fastlegeordningen? 144(10). doi: 10.4045/tidsskr.24.0339. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Kinge, Jonas Minet; Aas, Eline & Godager, Geir (2023). Ønsker vi virkelig å redusere kvaliteten på helsetjenesten? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir & Brækhus, Leni Aurora (2023). Helseøkonom positivt overrasket over «kommunetilpasset» basistilskudd. [Journal]. Dagens medisin. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Kinge, Jonas Minet; Godager, Geir & Selbæk, Geir (2023). En sterk økning i demens vil kreve store ressurser. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Demens er dyrest av alle sykdommer i Norge og utgjør en presserende helseutfordring. En aldrende befolkning gjør at forekomsten av demens er i ferd med å øke. Dessverre har vi ikke noen effektiv kur mot denne tilstanden. For å opprettholde tjenestetilbudet til personer med demens trengs betydelig økninger i bevilgningene til omsorgstjenesten.

• Aas, Eline; Godager, Geir; Hagen, Terje P.; Häkkinen, Unto; Karlsson, Martin & Kittelsen, Sverre [Vis alle 8 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2023). Advancing and Inspiring Health Economics: A Special Issue in Honor of Tor Iversen. Nordic Journal of Health Economics. ISSN 1892-9729. 6(1), s. 1–5. doi: 10.5617/njhe.10299. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Professor Tor Iversen is a distinguished and highly respected health economist who has made significant contributions to the field of health economics. With this special issue, we celebrate his work.

• Godager, Geir (2023). Uønsket fravær av variasjon i helsesektoren. Magma forskning og viten. ISSN 1500-0788. 26(5), s. 171–178. doi: 10.23865/magma.v26.1432. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet krever i oppdragsdokumenter at regionale helseforetak skal redusere uønsket variasjon i bruken av spesialisthelsetjenester. En utfordring beskrevet av Riksrevisjonen er at det bør vurderes skjønnsmessig for hvert enkelt tilfelle hvorvidt påvist variasjon i tjenestebruk er uønsket eller ønsket. Eksemplene i denne artikkelen viser at det også kan være grunn til å vurdere skjønnsmessig for hvert enkelt tilfelle hvorvidt et fravær av variasjon i tjenestebruk er uønsket eller ønsket. Eksemplene viser i tillegg at omfanget av problematisk underbehandling i spesialisthelsetjenesten kan være størst i det området der omfanget av uforklart variasjon er minst. Det er altså ikke opplagt at oppdragsdokumentenes krav om å redusere uønsket variasjon er formålstjenlig. Et alternativ som med fordel kan vurderes, er å utforme oppdragsdokumenter der tiltak for etterlevelse av prioriteringsforskriften tillegges større vekt enn i dag. Denne artikkelen er kun publisert på nett.

• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2022). Imperfect quality competition in regulated health care markets. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2022). Imperfect quality competition in regulated health care markets. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Kinge, Jonas Minet & Godager, Geir (2022). Kunnskapsbasert helsepolitikk er nødvendig for bærekraftige helsetjenester med god kvalitet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2022). Imperfect quality competition in regulated health care markets. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  We study equilibrium quality in a health care market with regulated prices. Demand-side behavior is derived from choice axioms, and the demand-side responds imperfectly to differences in provider quality. The quality-responsiveness of the demand-side, medical technology and cost structure determines a unique payoff matrix for providers. Payoffs to providers are vectors with two elements: profit and patient benefit. For alternative degrees of quality-responsiveness, we derive the set of pure strategies that constitute feasible Pareto equilibria or Bayesian Nash equilibria in a duopoly market. The minimal quality that can be implemented as a Pareto equilibrium or Bayesian Nash equilibrium rises if the demand-side becomes more responsive to quality. Exploiting data from an incentivized laboratory experiment on strategic medical choices, we find that for 36 % of cases, decision-makers choose medical treatments that are dominated by other treatment strategies. We compute the quantal response equilibria for alternative levels of quality-responsiveness and show that equilibrium qualities are positively related to the quality-responsiveness of the demand-side. The consequences for the market equilibrium of a more quality responsive demand-side are qualitatively similar in a quantal response equilibrium and in a Bayesian Nash equilibrium. Our results illustrate how and why choice opportunities for patients cause quality incentives for providers, even in markets where the demand side has an imperfect quality response. An important policy implication is that policies that succeed in raising the quality-responsiveness of the demand-side will lead to a rise in equilibrium qualities provided to the market. Classic examples include lowering transaction costs and transportation costs.

• Godager, Geir (2022). Bounded rationality models and their application to experimental data. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2022). Bounded rationality models and their application to experimental data. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2022). Bounded rationality models and their application to experimental data. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2021). Preregistration of protocols for economic experiments. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2021). Predicting strategic medical choices: An application of a quantal response equilibrium choice model. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2021). Forhåndsregistrering av forskningsprotokoller i eksperimentell økonomi. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2021). Bounded rationality models and their application to experimental data. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2021). Market equilibrium in general medical practice when demand functions are derived from choice axioms. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir; Thomas, Stephanie & Hole, Arne Risa (2021). A protocol for a choice experiment and data analysis. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor & Snilsberg, Øyvind (2020). Norge er trolig alene om å innføre omvendt overtid for fastleger. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Norge er ikke det første landet som velger å betale større basistilskudd til allmennlegene – men trolig alene om å innføre omvendt overtid.

• Iversen, Tor; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike; Wang, Jian & Godager, Geir (2019). Are patient-regarding preferences stable? Evidence from a laboratory experiment with physicians and medical students from different countries. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2019). A Quantal Response Equilibrium Choice Model. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Gamst, Emilie & Godager, Geir (2019). Økonom: Feil å klandre bedrifter. Intervjuobjekt. [Journal]. Dagsavisen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2019). A Quantal Response Equilibrium Choice Model. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2019). Bounded rationality models. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2019). Organisering og betaling i fastlegetjenesten: Muligheter og begrensninger. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Fosse, Synnøve Skeie & Godager, Geir (2019). Han mottok mer i refusjoner fra Folketrygden i 2018 enn noen andre legespesialister. [Journal]. Agderposten. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2019). Bounded rationality models. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2019). Vi anbefaler helse- ministeren å tenke seg godt om før han eventuelt gjentar påstanden om at systemet fungerer godt. [Journal]. Agderposten. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2019). A Quantal Response Equilibrium Choice Model. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir & Hanger, Mari Rian (2018). Betalingen til fastlegene er av betydning for ordningen. [Internet]. Dagens Medisin. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Både nivået på fastlegers inntekt og innretningen på betalingen vil påvirke fastlegetjenesten, ifølge helseøkonom Geir Godager.

• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2018). Markets and rationality. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2018). Markets and Rationality. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2018). Markets and rationality. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Byambadalai, Undral; Godager, Geir; Ma, Ching-To Albert & Wiesen, Daniel (2017). Competition and altruism. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir; Wang, Jian & Wiesen, Daniel (2017). Pysicians' preferences under demand-side cost sharing. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Cheo, Roland; Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir; Wang, Jian; Wang, Qiqi & Liu, Rugang (2017). The effect of a mystery shopper program on prescriptions in primary care: Results from a field experiment. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2017). En av fire fastleger er over 60 år. [Journal]. Dagens medisin. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir (2016). Competition and preferences in health care markets: Behavioral effects of incentives and framing. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir; Ma, Ching-To Albert & Wiesen, Daniel (2016). Competition and altruism: Experimental evidence. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ma, Ching-To Albert; Wiesen, Daniel & Godager, Geir (2016). Competition and Altruism. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir; Ma, Ching-To Albert & Wiesen, Daniel (2016). Competition and Altruism. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir; Cheo, Roland; Ge, Ge; Liu, Rugang; Wang, Qiqi & Wang, Jian (2016). The Effect of a Mystery Shopper Program on Prescription in Primary Care: Results from a Field Experiment in China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Zykova, Yana & Godager, Geir (2026). Knowing your patient better: a nationwide cohort study of antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections in Norwegian primary care. University of Oslo (UiO). ISSN 9788277562841. doi: https:/www.med.uio.no/helsam/forskning/nettverk/hero/publikasjoner/skriftserie/2026/1.html. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Background Antibiotic overuse drives antimicrobial resistance. In high-income countries, most antibiotics are prescribed in primary care, and respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the leading reason, although most outpatient RTIs are viral. Diagnostic uncertainty is a major physician-level driver of precautionary prescribing. Repeated contacts between a patient and the same general practitioner (GP) build relationship-specific knowledge and trust that might reduce this uncertainty, but evidence is scarce because most studies measure relational continuity at the patient level rather than at the specific doctor−patient pair. Methods In this nationwide register-based retrospective cohort study, we linked four Norwegian nationwide registries covering all primary care contacts during 2010−2019 (about 176 million contacts). We measured relational continuity directly as the running count of prior face-to-face contacts within each patient-GP pair and estimated linear probability models of antibiotic prescribing for RTI contacts with GP fixed effects, adjusting for patient, GP, and contact characteristics, separately for patients listed and not listed with the consulting GP. Reporting follows the STROBE guideline. Findings Antibiotic prescribing was substantially higher when the current RTI contact was the first patient-GP encounter compared with RTI contacts with prior interactions (any reason) within patient-GP pair. Prescribing probability decreased with the number of prior contacts and stabilised within roughly four to eight encounters. Relative to the first contact, prescribing fell by up to 5.2−7.6 percentage points for patients not listed with the GP, and by up to 1.0−1.8 percentage points for listed patients. Independent of encounter number, listed patients had a 4.3−4.5 percentage point lower probability of receiving a prescription. Interpretation Both formal registration and accumulated personal contact were associated with lower antibiotic prescription probability. Stable, contact-rich doctor−patient relationships are a plausible lever for antimicrobial stewardship.

• Tyrihjell, Johannes Bjørnstad; Godager, Geir; Pedersen, Kine; Værnø, Susanne Gerda; Gundersen, Martine Bergh & Hustad, Mie [Vis alle 13 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2025). Evaluering av tiltak i allmennlegetjenesten: Endelig evalueringsrapport (IV). Oslo Economics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Dette er den fjerde og siste evalueringsrapporten for følgeevalueringen av tiltak i allmennlegetjenesten. Tiltakene virker å ha vært viktige for å bedre situasjonen, men har også medført store kostnader. Fremover ventes det økt etterspørsel etter allmennlegetjenester. Dette vil kreve mer effektiv bruk av ressursene, nye arbeidsformer, økt oppmerksomhet til kvalitetsarbeid, og tilrettelagte tiltak som sikrer lik tilgang og kvalitet i hele landet.

• Aandahl, Emilie; Abelsen, Birgit; Fosse, Anette; Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor & Løyland, Hanna Isabel [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2024). Evaluering av forsøk med primærhelseteam og alternative finansieringsordninger: Sluttrapport 2018 – 2023 (Statusrapport VI). Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Primærhelseteam (PHT) er tverrfaglige team som inkluderer fastlege, sykepleier og helsesekretær. Sentrale målgrupper for PHT er brukere med kronisk sykdom, brukere med psykiske lidelser og rusavhengighet, brukere som omtales som «skrøpelige eldre» og brukere med utviklingshemming og funksjonsnedsettelser, samt «svake etterspørrere». <p> <p>For å finne ut om PHT, med mer systematisk oppfølging av målgruppen, gir et bedre tilbud til listeinnbyggerne enn den vanlige fastlegeordningen, ble forsøk med PHT startet 1. april 2018 på 13 legekontor, mens fire nye legekontor kom til fra 2020. Forsøket prøver ut to ulike finansieringsmodeller;12 av legekontorene har valgt honorarmodellen og fem har valgt driftstilskuddsmodellen. Evalueringen bygger på analyser av data fra helseregistre og administrative registre, pasientjournaler, spørreundersøkelser, intervjuundersøkelser og dokumenter. Denne rapporten beskriver resultater for perioden 2018 – 2021.

• Tyrihjell, Johannes Bjørnstad; Godager, Geir; Pedersen, Kine; Værnø, Susanne Gerda; Gundersen, Martine Bergh & Nyen, Johanne elise [Vis alle 12 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2024). Evaluering av tiltak i allmennlegetjenesten: Evalueringsrapport III. Oslo Economics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Aandahl, Emilie; Abelsen, Birgit; Fosse, Anette; Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor & Løyland, Hanna Isabel [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2023). Evaluering av forsøk med primærhelseteam og alternative finansieringsordninger. Statusrapport V. Oslo Economics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Primærhelseteam (PHT) er tverrfaglige team som inkluderer fastlege, sykepleier og helsesekretær. Sentrale målgrupper for PHT er brukere med kronisk sykdom, brukere med psykiske lidelser og rusavhengighet, brukere som omtales som «skrøpelige eldre» og brukere med utviklingshemming og funksjonsnedsettelser, samt «svake etterspørrere». <p> <p>For å finne ut om PHT, med mer systematisk oppfølging av målgruppen, gir et bedre tilbud til listeinnbyggerne enn den vanlige fastlegeordningen, ble forsøk med PHT startet 1. april 2018 på 13 legekontor, mens fire nye legekontor kom til fra 2020. Forsøket prøver ut to ulike finansieringsmodeller; 12 av legekontorene har valgt honorarmodellen og fem har valgt driftstilskuddsmodellen. Evalueringen bygger på analyser av data fra helseregistre og administrative registre, pasientjournaler, spørreundersøkelser, intervjuundersøkelser og dokumenter. I denne rapporten undersøker vi særlig: <p> <uli> <li>Pasienters erfaring med PHT</li> <li>Likheter og ulikheter mellom PHT-legekontor med ulike finansieringsmodeller</li> <li>Variasjon i teamarbeid og teameffektivitet ved et utvalg PHT-legekontor</li> <li>Samspill mellom PHT og øvrig helsetjeneste <</li> </uli>

• Pedersen, Kine; Godager, Geir; Tyrihjell, Johannes Bjørnstad; Værnø, Susanne Gerda; Gundersen, Martine Bergh & Iversen, Tor [Vis alle 11 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2023). Evaluering av handlingsplan for allmennlegetjenesten 2020–2024: Evalueringsrapport II. Oslo Economics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Pedersen, Kine; Pedersen, Kine; Godager, Geir; Rognlien, Hans David; Tyrihjell, Johannes Bjørnstad & Værnø, Susanne Gerda [Vis alle 12 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2022). Evaluering av handlingsplan for allmennlegetjenesten 2020–2024: Evalueringsrapport I. Oslo Economics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Abelsen, Birgit; Gaski, Margrete; Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor; Løyland, Hanna Isabel & Pedersen, Kine [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2022). Evaluering av pilotprosjekt med primærhelseteam og alternative finansieringsordninger: Sluttrapport for 2018-2021 (Statusrapport IV). Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Primærhelseteam (PHT) i fastlegekontor består av fastleger, sykepleiere og helsesekretærer, og teamet ledes av en fastlege. Formålet med organiseringen er å tilby bedre fastlegetjenester til pasienter som trenger det mest, blant annet i form av en mer systematisk oppfølging. Forsøket med PHT omfatter også utprøving av to nye finansieringsmodeller. Det er 17 legekontor som inngår i PHT-forsøket. Sluttrapport 2018 – 2021 oppsummerer evalueringens funn fram til utgangen av 2021.

• Aars, Ole Kristian; Godager, Geir; Kaarbøe, Oddvar Martin & Moger, Tron Anders (2022). Sending emails to reduce medical costs? The effect of feedback on general practitioners’ claiming of fees. Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Audit and feedback is used as a strategy to guide practices of health care professionals towards certain targets. The outcome of interest can be quality improvements, but also ensuring that health care workers adhere to relevant regulations. We conducted a nationwide field experiment in the Norwegian primary care sector to study the behavioral responses from giving general practitioners feedback (GPs) on their claiming of fees. The email-based feedback intervention targeted GPs who most frequently claimed fees for double consultations and provided them with a reminder of the formal regulations for double consultations. The intervention caused a 2-5 percentage point reduction in the use of the double-consultation fee, reducing the yearly health care spending of the Norwegian government by approximately €877 000 (or €1 270 per GP).

• Abelsen, Birgit; Godager, Geir; Harsheim, Ingrid Gaarder; Iversen, Tor; Kristiansen, Ivar Sønbø & Løyland, Hanna Isabell [Vis alle 10 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2022). Evaluering av utprøving av digital hjemmeoppfølging: Sluttrapport. Oslo Economics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike; Jing, Li Jing; Wang, Jian & Yang, Fan (2021). Does gender affect medical decisions? Results from a behavioral experiment with physicians and medical students. Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  It is rarely the case that differences in behaviors of females and males are described under a ceteris paribus condition, and behaviors can potentially be influenced by the environment in which decisions are made. In the case of medical decisions, physicians are expected to account for patient characteristics as well as observed and unobserved contextual factors, such as whether the patient has a healthy lifestyle. Since one usually do not randomize physicians to context, reported gender differences in medical practice can have several alternative interpretations. A key question is whether the medical treatment of a given patient is expected to depend on the gender of the physician. To address this question, we quantify gender effects using data from an incentivized laboratory experiment, where Chinese medical doctors and Chinese medical students choose medical treatment under different payment schemes. We estimate preference parameters of females and males assuming decision-makers have patient-regarding preferences. We cannot reject the hypothesis that gender differences in treatment choices are absent. Preference parameters of females and males are not statistically different in a log-likelihood ratio test, and there is no evidence that the degree of randomness in choices differs between genders. The absence of gender effects in the laboratory, where choice context is fixed, provides nuance to previous findings on gender differences, and highlights the general difficulty of separating individuals’ behavior from the context they are in.

• Abelsen, Birgit; Gaski, Margrete; Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor; Løyland, Hanna Isabell & Pedersen, Kine [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2021). Evaluering av forsøk med primærhelseteam og alternative finansieringsordninger: Statusrapport III. Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir (2021). Essays in experimental health economics. Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  In order to implement effective health policy reforms, knowledge of physician preferences, and hence, their responses to policy reforms is desirable. This thesis consists of three papers aiming to address fundamental research questions on physician behavior. Paper I investigates whether the change of information scheme affects physicians’ prescribing behavior. The results suggest that preannouncing a mystery shopper audit reduces physicians’ probability of prescribing drugs to the pseudopatients. Paper II explores physicians’ response to cost-sharing borne by the patients and finds that future physicians are concerned about the influences of their medical treatment choices on patients’ consumption opportunities after co-payment. Paper III introduces a strategic decision scenario and studies physician treatment decisions under competition. The results indicate that the substantial difference in behavior between markets may be attributed to changes in individuals’ scale parameter. The scale parameter rises as markets become more competitive, implying a higher degree of determinism in behavior. The data of all three papers are collected from experiments. Under the framework of stochastic choice theory, three special cases of a generalized multinomial logit model are employed in the data analysis.

• Abelsen, Birgit; Gaski, Margrete; Godager, Geir; Løyland, Hanna Isabel; Pedersen, Kine & Snilsberg, Øyvind [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2019). Evaluering av pilotprosjekt med primærhelseteam og alternative finansieringsordninger. Statusrapport II. Helsedirektoratet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wang, Jian; Iversen, Tor; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Godager, Geir (2019). Are patient-regarding preferences stable? Evidence from a laboratory experiment with physicians and medical students from different countries. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 9788277562650. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir & Wang, Jian (2019). Do physicians care about patients’ utility? Evidence from an experimental study of treatment choices under demand-side cost sharing. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 9788277562667. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Abelsen, Birgit; Gaski, Margrete; Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor; Løyland, Hanna Isabel & Pedersen, Kine [Vis alle 8 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2019). Evaluering av pilotprosjekt med primærhelseteam og alternative finansieringsordninger. Statusrapport I. Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Fra 1. april 2018 prøves primærhelseteam ut som en organisasjonsform med teamorganisering og to alternative finansieringsmodeller ved 13 fastlegekontor i ni kommuner. Forsøket administreres av Helsedirektoratet og skal pågå i tre år. Forsøket evalueres av en samarbeidskonstellasjon av forskere fra Universitetet i Oslo, Universitetet i Tromsø og Oslo Economics. I denne rapporten beskriver vi status ved starten av forsøket.

• Abelsen, Birgit; Gaski, Margrete; Godager, Geir; Iversen, Tor; Løyland, Hanna Isabel & Pedersen, Kine [Vis alle 7 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2019). Evaluering av pilotprosjekt med primærhelseteam og alternative finansieringsordninger. Statusrapport 2. Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  I evalueringens andre statusrapport har vi undersøkt hvordan arbeidet med primærhelseteam (PHT) foregår og fungerer ved alle legekontorene som inngår i forsøket. Arbeidet med PHT er godt i gang ved alle legekontorene, selv om oppstarten for mange har tatt tid. Antallet pasienter som omfattes av PHT er økende. Det er stor variasjon i organisering av teamarbeidet på legekontorene. Sykepleiernes innsats kommer både i tillegg til og i stedet for innsats fra fastlegen. Det er stor variasjon i sykepleiernes takstinntjening. Om lag halvparten av fastlegene og sykepleierne opplever at deres yrkesgruppe i noen grad arbeider proaktivt.

• Cheo, Roland; Ge, Ge; Godager, Geir; Liu, Rugang; Wang, Qiqi & Wang, Jian (2018). The effect of a mystery shopper scheme on prescriptions in primary care. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 9788277562629. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wang, Jian; Hennig-Schmidt, Heike; Iversen, Tor & Godager, Geir (2017). How Changes in Payment Schemes Influence Provision Behavior-Evidence from a lab experiment with physicians and medical students. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 9788277562612. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Li, Jing Jing; Godager, Geir & Wang, Jian (2016). Does physician gender influence the provision of medical care? An experimental study. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 9788277562551. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Godager, Geir & Iversen, Tor (2016). Brukernes erfaringer med fastlegeordningen 2001- 2015. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 9788277562582. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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