Events

Prof. Han Ye
Assistant Professor Department of Economics
Lingnan University

We examine physician decision fatigue using administrative data from over 250,000 emergency department visits. We find that as physicians treat more patients and make more decisions, they tend to reduce admissions, order fewer tasks, and shorten hospital stays, leading to higher patient revisit rates. These effects are most pronounced in low-acuity cases, whereas in high-acuity situations, physicians adopt a more cautious decision rule by increasing admissions. Our study contributes to the expanding research on cognitive aspects of decision-making, suggesting that effective fatigue management should involve not only limiting shift lengths but also addressing the cognitive load faced by physicians.