How to fairly allocate scarce medical resources? Controversial preferences of healthcare professionals with different personal characteristics

Abstract

The scarcity of medical resources is widely recognized, and therefore priority setting is inevitable. This study examines whether Portuguese healthcare professionals (physicians vs nurses): (i) share the moral guidance proposed by ethicists and (ii) attitudes toward prioritization criteria vary among individual and professional characteristics. A sample of 254 healthcare professionals were confronted with hypothetical prioritization scenarios involving two patients distinguished by personal or health characteristics. Descriptive statistics and parametric analyses were performed to evaluate and compare the adherence of both groups of healthcare professionals regarding 10 rationing criteria: waiting time, treatment prognosis measured in life expectancy and quality of life, severity of health conditions measured in pain and immediate risk of dying, age discrimination measured in favoring the young over older and favoring the youngest over the young, merit evaluated positively or negatively, and parenthood. The findings show a slight adherence to the criteria. Waiting time and patient pain were the conditions considered fairer by respondents in contrast with the ethicists normative. Preferences for distributive justice vary by professional group and among participants with different political orientations, rationing experience, years of experience, and level of satisfaction with the NHS. Decision-makers should consider the opinion of ethicists, but also those of healthcare professionals to legitimize explicit guidelines.

Spatial distribution and influencing factors of CDC health resources in China: a study based on panel data from 2016–2021

“…The uneven distribution of healthcare resources is a long-standing challenge in China. It is also prevalent in other countries (regions), such as the United States ( 9 ), Portugal ( 10 ), Japan ( 11 ), Kenya ( 12 ), and Southeast Asia ( 13 ). As the largest developing country with a vast land area and a large population, China faces the challenge of maximizing the provision of comprehensive health care services given the constraints on available healthcare resources ( 14 ).…”

“…For example, it has been found that adequate healthcare resources are conducive to reducing child COVID-19 mortality and morbidity (7). Health professionals are able to provide quality health services to tuberculosis patients, improving their quality of life and health outcomes (8).…”

Geographical Pattern Evolution of Health Resources in China: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Spatial Mismatch

“…The United Nations ranks “good health and well-being” third among its 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and proposes the goal of “ensuring universal access to well-being and health care and achieving universal health coverage” (SDG3) [ 5 ]. Health resources are scarce, basic, and public social services, and improving the spatial balance and equity of health resources is a vital target of governments and international organizations [ 6 , 7 ]. As the quality of life improves the population’s demand for health services, which is on the rise, leading to the fact that the capacity to supply health resources in many countries, especially in developing countries, it is facing great challenges against the background of increasingly high medical costs [ 8 , 9 ].…”