Fondazione GRINS
Growing Resilient,
Inclusive and Sustainable
Galleria Ugo Bassi 1, 40121, Bologna, IT
C.F/P.IVA 91451720378
Finanziato dal Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR), Missione 4 (Infrastruttura e ricerca), Componente 2 (Dalla Ricerca all’Impresa), Investimento 1.3 (Partnership Estese), Tematica 9 (Sostenibilità economica e finanziaria di sistemi e territori).
Open Access
GRINS THEMATIC AREAS
RESOURCES
This paper studies the causal effect of ultra-broadband (UBB) diffusion on healthcare utilization in Lombardy, Italy, between 2015 and 2019.
Exploiting variation in the gradual rollout of UBB infrastructure across municipalities, and measuring treatment intensity as the percentage of households covered by UBB, we estimate a difference-in-differences model for continuous treatments.
Using rich administrative data on outpatient diagnostic services and emergency room (ER) visits, we analyze how increased internet availability affects healthcare-seeking behavior.
Our results show that higher UBB coverage leads to a significant increase in outpatient diagnostic activity, with heterogeneous effects across diagnostic technologies and stronger responses among older individuals. At the same time, UBB expansion is associated with a reduction in ER utilization, particularly in inappropriate visits among younger individuals.
Overall, the results are consistent with a behavioral mechanism in which improved access to online health information increases diagnostic demand while reducing reliance on emergency care.
These findings highlight the role of digital infrastructure in shaping healthcare utilization patterns and have important implications for health policy in increasingly connected health systems.
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AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to Regione Lombardia for kindly supplying the data. We would like to thank also participants at the APHEC Forth Workshop 2025 (Advanced Pharmaco & Health Economics). We acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Next Generation EU program under the GRINS - Growing Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Project (GRINS PE00000018 – CUP E63C2200214000) and PPRIN-2022 PNRR ”The value of scientific production for patient care in Academic Health Science Centres” (Project Code: P2022RF38Y; CUP: E53D23016650001). Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Candida Silvestri for the insight that inspired the development of this work.
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