The effect of the price of time on healthcare provider choice in Ghana

Abstract

Abstract The existing literature confirms that the cost of treatment affects the choice of a particular healthcare provider. The Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme was established in 2003 to reduce the cost of healthcare provision and increase access to healthcare. However, we find that that even when the price is assumed to be “zero”, there remain some economic costs for choosing a particular healthcare provider over the other. This is called the price of time or opportunity cost. The study uses data from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7) conducted in 2016/2017 and employs multinomial probit regression as the technique for the analysis. The study finds that travel time and waiting time have significant effects on the choice of healthcare provider. If travel time and waiting time increase by 1 h, it will decrease the probability of seeking healthcare by 12% and 17%, respectively. Travel cost was not found to have a significant effect. The recommendations are that policymakers should make the effort to decrease travel time and waiting time at the health facilities in the country to improve healthcare delivery.