What do Consumers Want and Need to Know in Making Health Care Choices?

Abstract

This article assesses the presumption that consumer choice in health care is based on a rational weighing of alternatives--that information consumers about plan or provider performance, when coupled with information on cost plus service scope and limitation, will lead consumers to select high-quality, low-priced plans or providers. The authors review research on what health care consumers know, what they want to know, and what others think they should know. They also consider how people use information in making decisions and what this implies for what consumers really need to know to make effective decisions. The article concludes that assuming a rational consumer does not account for choice among options in the increasingly complex health care context facing consumers today. Based on this review, the article identifies gaps in the knowledge and sketches out a prospective research agenda in the area of consumer health care decision making.

A Systematic Review of the Factors that Patients Use to Choose their Surgeon

“…Previous studies have suggested that patients base their choice of healthcare provider on a heterogeneous mix of information including both patient and provider characteristics, such as board certification, office appearance, access to care, and physician manner [1][2][3]. There is an abundance of literature examining how patients select healthcare plans, hospitals, primary care physicians, and specialist providers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…There is an abundance of literature examining how patients select healthcare plans, hospitals, primary care physicians, and specialist providers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. These studies show that different patients may use unlike criteria for selecting medical care, and that some patients ascribe importance to dissimilar factors.…”

“…These studies show that different patients may use unlike criteria for selecting medical care, and that some patients ascribe importance to dissimilar factors. Indeed, patients can act like ''irrational'' or ''passive'' consumers when choosing care [1][2][3][4][5]. Overall, there is little research on how patients choose surgeons or hospitals for surgery.…”

The Impact of the eHealth Technologies on the Chronically-ill Patient�s choice of Same Hospital Again (Preprint)

“…Further studies point out that waiting times also have a positive impact on patient's hospital choices. Other studies show that most patients are unable to make a completely rational choice [26][27][28][29]. This highlights the importance of hospital convenience, especially for patients with chronic diseases, as most of them are elderly and find it difficult to search out and effectively use potentially helpful information.…”

A Fair Range of Choice: Justifying Maximum Patient Choice in the British National Health Service

“…And although I have argued that this kind of choice follows a cultural trend in western society, as Magee et al [33] point out, it is far from clear that patients actually want choice on this scale at present, or feel able to exercise it. Despite being culturally resourced (as I have suggested) to formulate a wide range of preferences, people seem to be held back by the lack of other necessary resources, such as information, confidence [41] or the skill to use information appropriately [29].…”