The following is a guest post by Wendy Lynch, PhD the Director of the Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care. It was originally posted on the Altarum Institute’s Health Policy Forum.
By Wendy Lynch. There is a massive untapped resource in health care: consumers. Like a sleeping giant, unaware of its size and power, consumers have yet to realize what effect they could have on the system simply by asking questions or making choices. It’s not certain when, or if, consumers will awaken.
Consider this finding from our recent online survey of consumer opinions (1). The survey asked a national sample of about 3,000 employed individuals about where they get health information and how they use it. Only half of all respondents ever remember a doctor offering them multiple treatment options from which they could choose. Let’s remember the evidence: individuals who participate in medical decisions have better outcomes, better recovery, lower costs and higher satisfaction than those who don’t (2). Against this backdrop combined with national agencies promoting shared decision making with their “Questions are the Answer” campaign (3), and the new Physician Ethics Manual (4) insisting that the patient should be the primary decision maker about options, this answer is disturbing. But not surprising.
The subtle distinction is this: consumers remain recipients of care rather than participants in care. Sitting in an examination room, waiting for a doctor, possibly half-naked, not feeling well, patients are more inclined to say “ok, whatever you say” than “tell me what my options are.”
Despite huge advances, the environment is still not conducive to active participation. For most consumers, the information revolution in health care has not yet arrived. By and large, most consumers still get their recommendations from friends and family and don’t spend much time or energy making comparisons. We surveyed and interviewed consumers about where they get their information, how much they know about price and quality, and what would make them choose a different provider. What we learned tells us a lot about the ways consumers are and—perhaps more importantly—are not actively involved in care decisions and what factors get them more involved.
Our observations do confirm the obvious: there is no such thing as a “typical” consumer. Opinions vary dramatically on everything from desired control over decisions, satisfaction with care, use of information, and loyalty to a specific provider. Consumers’ level of health literacy also varies. We conducted random interviews of “people on the street” about health care topics to hear what typical responses sound like. One look at these video interviews asking about price (5) or what quality means (6) reminds us just how unique each person’s perceptions and preferences can be. Their feedback also reveals how much our own experiences shape our views and our decisions about care. (more…)
