Analytical Investigation of the Factors Affecting the Supplier-Induced Demand in Healthcare: A Case Study of CT Scanning Department in Iran

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the supplier-induced demand in health care with the help of an analytical-survey approach and using a questionnaire tool, and to analyze the role of medical technology centers, such as centers equipped with a CT scanning department, in development of this type of demand. The statistical population of the present research consisted of the patients referring to this department, out of whom 80 people were selected as the research sample using the simple random sampling method. After checking the normality of the data distribution through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, three research hypotheses were developed, all of which were confirmed by analyzing them using the Pearson correlation parametric test. The results of the data analysis indicated that the low patient information, high physician information, and high costs of healthcare service provider institutions have a positive effect on the supplier-induced demand in healthcare (especially in the departments with therapeutic technologies such as CT scanning). In addition, according to the results, the variable of high costs of healthcare provider organizations plays a more significant role in development of supplier-induced demand for healthcare providers, compared to the other two variables.