Looks Expensive Until It Doesn't: The Timing of Pain-and-Palliative Care in Colombia

Question and contribution.

Using Colombia's national health claims and risk-set matching, this paper studies how the timing of pain-and-palliative-care access relates to subsequent spending. Earlier specialist access is associated with lower recorded consultation and procedure values, while a simple prior-spending rule captures most of the value of more complex targeting.

How the project is framed.

BibTeX.

@unpublished{aparicio2026palliative,
  title = {Looks Expensive Until It Doesn't: The Timing of Pain-and-Palliative Care in Colombia},
  author = {Juan P. Aparicio and Diana Echavarria},
  note = {Working paper; draft available on request},
  year = {2026}
}