While the cost-saving benefit of generic drugs is obvious, the treatment effectiveness remains unclear. We examine the effect of generic drug usage on health outcomes and address the potential endogeneity concern using instrumental variables and a difference-in-differences framework. We find that generic drug usage leads to higher healthcare service utilization and worse clinical outcomes. Moreover, Our findings highlight the effectiveness heterogeneity of generics from different manufacturers.

Problem: We examine telemedicine's impact on antibiotic prescription errors using patient-provider encounter data. Two-stage least squares regressions show lower overall errors with telemedicine. Effects vary by provider's patient volume and relationship. Reduction in errors mainly stems from type I errors, without compromising patient health outcomes. Telemedicine reduces drug waste and antibiotic resistance, benefiting decision-makers and patients.

The use of telemedicine has grown rapidly. To understand patient behaviors in telemedicine and in-person visits, we studied service incompletion. Physician availability affects in-person visits but not no-shows. Using a multivariate probit model, we found that intra-day delay increases telemedicine service incompletion by 7.40% but has no significant effect on in-person visits. Differentiating incompletions from no-shows is crucial for optimal patient sequencing decisions.