Introduction: The physician's induced demand is one of the most important in health economics. The purpose of this research is to investigate the induced demand for medical services in Semnan province and to analyze the relationship between the characteristics of doctors and patients with the costs of visiting general practitioners.
Methods: This research was a descriptive-analytical study conducted using a cross-sectional method on data from 1401 (2022/2023). The statistical population included all general practitioners (538 physicians) contracted with the Iranian Health Insurance Organization who provided outpatient services to insured persons in Semnan province.In the analysis stage, the model was estimated using logistic regression using STATA-17 and SPSS-26 software.
Findings: In 1401, 538 general practitioners in Semnan province provided prescription services to health insured persons. Of these, 54.8% were women and 45.2% were men. Their average age was 39±12 years.Also, 139 people (25.8%) were over 60 years old. There was also a significant relationship (P<0.001) between induced demand and physician characteristics (such as age, gender, work experience) and patient characteristics (such as age, gender, type of insurance).
Conclusion: The results of this research indicate that the individual characteristics of doctors and patients can affect treatment costs. This study also emphasizes that the inappropriate payment system in the health category can lead to induced demand. Based on the findings, improving the monitoring and evaluation of physician' performance and the use of new technologies such as electronic prescribing can help reduce the demand for induction.