{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T19:11:34Z","timestamp":1792091494002,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]],"date-time":"2025-12-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764892800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Health Serv."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Supplier-induced demand occurs when the supplier or physician, acting on behalf of the consumer or patient, generates a level of demand that surpasses what the consumer would have chosen if fully informed. Supplier-induced demand indicates the level of demand that exists beyond what would be seen in a market where consumers have complete information. In other words, the agency relationship between a patient and a physician stems from the patient's limited understanding of health, diagnosis, and treatment, which creates information asymmetry, requiring dependence on the physician's guidance. A perfect agent would suggest therapies that match the patient's needs and preferences, taking into account aspects like health issues and financial situations. Although health economics plays a critical role in understanding supplier-induced demand, this research seeks to illustrate the econophysics viewpoint of this occurrence. It specifically aims to clarify the mechanism by which supplier-induced demand develops, employing the principles of Newtonian physics. In this context, we propose interpreting supplier-induced demand through an econophysical perspective by integrating ideas from physics and economics to develop a novel conceptual framework. The mathematical structure of econophysics allows us to reproduce results through a single equation, indicating that specific patterns require monitoring.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/frhs.2025.1704835","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]],"date-time":"2025-12-05T06:29:38Z","timestamp":1764916178000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Studying supplier-induced demand in healthcare: an econophysics approach"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Dimitris","family":"Zavras","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198794837.001.0001","volume-title":"Principles in Health Economics and Policy","author":"Olsen","year":"2017"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1186\/s13561-025-00592-0","article-title":"Overuse of medical imaging and effects of payer-provider integration: quasi experimental evidence from Finland","volume":"15","author":"Lavaste","year":"2025","journal-title":"Health Econ Rev"},{"key":"B3","article-title":"Medical overuse MeSH descriptor data 2025","year":"2025"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1093\/heapol\/14.4.409","article-title":"Evaluating payment mechanisms: how can we measure unnecessary care?","volume":"14","author":"Liu","year":"1999","journal-title":"Health Policy Plan"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1017\/s1744133121000293","article-title":"Need, demand, supply in health care: working definitions, and their implications for defining access","volume":"18","author":"Rodriguez Santana","year":"2023","journal-title":"Health Econ Policy Law"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2017.01.020","article-title":"\u201cToo much medicine\u201d: insights and explanations from economic theory and research","volume":"176","author":"Hensher","year":"2017","journal-title":"Soc Sci Med"},{"key":"B7","first-page":"279","article-title":"Supplier-induced demand and unnecessary care","volume-title":"Public Ends, Private Means: Strategic Purchasing of Health Services","author":"Liu","year":"2007"},{"key":"B8","volume-title":"Health Economics for Nurses","author":"Morris","year":"1998"},{"key":"B9","volume-title":"Health Care Economics","author":"Feldstein","year":"2012"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-68540-1","volume-title":"Health Economics","author":"Zweifel","year":"2009"},{"key":"B11","article-title":"The Newtonian mechanics of demand","author":"Mendel","year":"2023"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4337\/9781781001998","volume-title":"The Dictionary of Health Economics","author":"Culyer","year":"2014"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2200030","DOI":"10.9745\/GHSP-D-22-00030","article-title":"What do we demand? 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