Care purchasing in the Dutch dental care

Introduction – Since 2009 there is a reduction in the amount of contracts between health insurance companies and dental care providers. The first goal of this thesis was to examine whether it is beneficial for insurers to sign contracts with dental care providers. The second goal was to study what incentives influence of dental care providers to sign a contract. Data and Methods – To examine the first goal of this study, claims data at the Dutch health insurance company CZ were extracted from the database. With these data the differences between contracted and non-contracted dental care providers were examined using the Mann-Whitney U test. The second goal was investigated by a survey that was sent to 1.189 dental care providers. T-tests were performed to examine the differences in attitudes between the two groups. A logistic regression investigated whether the contract status could be predicted. Results – The average amount of claims per consumer was equal between the contracted and non-contracted dental care providers. The average price per consumer was higher for non-contracted providers. The average costs per claim were also higher for non-contracted providers. The incentives that currently positively contribute to the tendency to sign a contract are administrative benefits, and the perceived importance of a good relationship with health insurance companies. Conclusion – Since contracted providers have a more beneficial claim behavior than non-contracted providers, health insurance companies should try to increase the amount of contracts. The companies should try to increase the negotiation possibilities and clarify to providers that the reduction of autonomy in contracts based upon costs is not present.