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At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources

PubMed2001

Do employees use report cards to assess health care provider systems?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate consumers' use of report cards that provide information on service quality and satisfaction at the provider group level. DATA SOURCES: In 1998 we conducted a telephone survey of randomly selected employees in firms aligned with the Buyers Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market. STUDY DESIGN: Univariate probit models were used to determine report card utilization, perceived helpfulness of the report card, and ease of selecting a provider group. The characteristics used in the models included health status, age, gender, education, residency, job tenure, marital status, presence of dependent children, household income, and whether consumers changed provider groups. DATA COLLECTION: Our sample consists of survey responses from 996 single individuals (a response rate of 91 percent) and 913 families (a response rate of 96 percent). The survey was supplemented with data obtained directly from employers aligned with BHCAG. PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: Consumers who changed to a new provider group are more likely to use report card information and find it helpful, consumers employed in large firms are less likely to use the report card, and families who use information from their own health care experiences are less likely to find the report card helpful. In addition, individuals who changed to a new provider group are more likely to find the selection decision difficult. CONCLUSION: The findings show that health care consumers are using satisfaction and service-quality information provided by their employers.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Medicare in a consumer-choice environment: competitor or residual program?

The Medicare provisions of the reconciliation bill and President Clinton's proposals would both allow many new health plans to compete for Medicare enrollees and structure a competitive, consumer-choice system. Medicare will enter this new environment with serious shortcomings. The logic of market competition will call for upgrading many aspects of Medicare if it is to be successful. Among Medicare's features that need to be reconsidered are benefits, consumer focus, premium financing, payment policies, provider arrangements, performance accountability, management systems, risk adjustment and market strategies, social mission responsibilities, and research and development.

Choice Behavior↗

PubMed1977

Physician conduct and other factors that affect consumer satisfaction with medical care.

Major dimensions of consumer perceptions regarding physicians and medical care services were identified using factor analysis of survey data, as follows: accessibility, availability of family doctors, availability of hospitals/specialists, completeness of facilities, continuity of care, and physician conduct (art and technical aspects of quality). Scores for these dimensions and multivariate statistical methods were used to predict general satisfaction ratings for a cross section of adults and for groups differing in age, education, health status, and sex. Physician conduct was clearly the most important factor in relation to general satisfaction with care for the total sample and for all groups studied. Other factors also were important, suggesting that more than one interpretation of general satisfaction scores should be considered when consumer satisfaction surveys are used to support the planning of educational programs in medicine and the delivery of services.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1978

The consumer of therapy in mental health.

The current emphasis on consumer advocacy and accountability in health care has implications for the practice of occupational therapy in mental health. The consumer movement that gained national attention during the 1960s was marked by the passage in 1962 of a congressional bill that affirmed the consumer's right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. These four rights, as well as the concept of client self-determination (seen as an additional right of the client to determine his or her own participation in the evaluation and treatment process), can be applied to occupational therapy practice. Occupational therapists must begin to address the aspects of accountability to the consumer by understanding both the concept and the principles of consumerism and the consequences of focusing on the patient or client as consumer. Therapists must then attempt to apply these principles to practice. Principles of consumerism can be incorporated into practice in clinical, administrative, and educational settings.

Choice Behavior↗

PubMed2004

Health care consumer reports: an evaluation of employer perspectives.

The proliferation of health care consumer reports (also known as "consumer guides," "report cards," and "performance reports") designed to assist consumers in making more informed health care decisions makes it vital to understand the perspective of employers who provide the vast majority of health insurance to the working population regarding the use of these reports. There is little empirical evidence on how consumer reports are used by employers to make health care purchasing decisions. This study fills that gap by surveying 154 businesses in Boone County, Missouri, regarding their evaluation of a consumer guide. The majority of employers surveyed indicate that the report will not have a direct effect on their health care purchasing decisions. However, they indicate that the reports are "positive and worthwhile" and their responses reflect a favorable view of the health care organization that developed and disseminated the report. Additionally, findings indicate that employers generally prefer consumer reports as a means to compare local health care institutions, rather than reviewing national averages to locate the same information. Report developers should take precautions to determine the intent of such reports, as they may not achieve the objective of changing employers' health care purchasing behavior.

Choice Behavior↗

PubMed1996

What is driving health system change?

Socially amoral economic forces now drive health system change. The authors, assisted by a panel of experts on employers, health plans, providers, and consumers, discuss current drivers such as (1) employers' price-focused purchasing, without good quality/value measures; (2) health plans' growing successes and market clout; (3) providers declining prospects and fears about their future; and (4) consumers' worries about less choice. Future influences will include Medicare reforms, better information, and pro-consumer regulation of managed care, as well as rising social distress. The health system's future is now open for resolution in an evolving, imperfect market.

Choice Behavior↗

PubMed2004

reDefined contribution health care.

To combat rising health care costs and a society increasingly unsatisfied with employer-sponsored health care services, reDefined Contribution Health Care suggests a process to create a more consumer-driven health care market. To create this value-sensitive market requires a planned, staged approach that will include immediate actions and work toward fundamental, long-term changes.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Consumer acceptance of stir-fry and kabobs from dark chicken meat and their packaging.

In a study of marketing opportunities for fresh, dark, chicken meat, focus group participants (n = 34) provided qualitative information concerning potential products and packaging concepts. Results of the focus groups indicated that the participants were willing to purchase new, convenient poultry products made from dark chicken meat. Specific dark meat products the participants were willing to by included boneless, skinless thighs, kabob cubes, and stir-fry strips. Consumers desired clear packaging for the products but did not want the packaging to be microwaveable or ovenproof. Acceptance of chicken kabob chunks and stir-fry strips of varying piece sizes (2.54, 3.81, and 5.08 cm) and seasoning concentrations (1.6, 2.1, and 2.6%) was evaluated by consumers (n = 83) using a nine-point hedonic scale. The most preferred products were a 5.08 cm (2 in) kabob with 2.6% seasoning and a stir-fry strip with 2.6% seasoning. A simulated supermarket setting test was conducted to verify findings from a mailed survey (n = 115) and actual purchase behavior by consumers (n = 121). A calculated desirability index indicated a ranked preference to be: breasts > kabobs > stir-fry > boneless, skinless thighs > bone-in, skin-on thighs.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Identification and classification of consumer food-handling behaviors for food safety education.

OBJECTIVE: To identify key behaviors associated with major food safety pathogen control factors. DESIGN: World Wide Web-based descriptive study with 4 tasks: compile a list of food-handling behaviors from the literature; use Delphi process to build consensus, rank order, and edit lists of behaviors; assess content and construct validity; and review results of Delphi process at a summit meeting of selected experts to make final recommendations for a food safety behavior list. SUBJECTS/SETTING: A convenience sample of 10 epidemiologists, 11 food microbiologists, 10 food safety educators, and 10 food safety policy makers was recruited from lists of nationally known experts. Twenty-four experts completed 4 rounds of surveys presented to them via a Web site. Six experts attended a face-to-face meeting to finalize behavior lists. Statistical analyses performed Descriptive statistics and sum of observation data were used to determine rank order and validity. RESULTS: Twenty-nine key food-handling behaviors for maintaining the safety of food and reducing the number of cases and outbreaks of foodborne illness were identified. These were rank-ordered within 5 pathogen control factors: practice personal hygiene, cook foods adequately, avoid cross-contamination, keep foods at safe temperatures, and avoid foods from unsafe sources. APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: This list of rank-ordered behaviors grouped by pathogen control factor should help dietitians and educators confidently teach food safety guidance that will be most effective in preventing illness.

Consumer Product Safety↗

PubMed1993

When medical group and HMO part company: disenrollment decisions in Medicare HMOs.

Medicare beneficiaries who enroll in "risk contract" Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) are covered for services only if they are provided or approved by the HMO. Thus, their enrollment decisions involve selecting a health care delivery system and may be influenced by whether the HMO has contracts with particular providers. Disenrollment decisions, in turn, may be influenced by breaks in contracts between the HMO and its medical groups. This study examines decisions made by Medicare HMO enrollees when their HMO terminated its relationship with a major medical group; the group then signed a contract with a competing HMO. Beneficiaries were forced to choose between remaining with their HMO and switching to another provider, and switching to the competing HMO where they could keep their provider. Beneficiaries demonstrated considerable loyalty to their providers; nearly 60% switched to the competing HMO. Previous research on health care coverage decisions has been based on models which did not address consumers' knowledge, options, and information sources. In this decision context, we found that knowledge and information sources were the most important determinants of beneficiary decisions.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Citizens' role in health services: satisfaction behavior: Kano's model, Part 1.

When it comes to consumer satisfaction, there is a lack of consensus over the importance of the role of consumers in connection with the quality of services. Widely different points of view exist, ranging from a defense of consumer satisfaction as the ultimate measure of service quality, to its treatment as a commercial issue or as one that merely has to do with image. This first article (part 1 of 2, also in this issue) describes and illustrates Kano's explicative model of how consumer satisfaction behaves and briefly analyzes the main characteristics, advantages, and limitations of the different methods used to assess consumer satisfaction.

Consumer Behavior↗

PubMed2005

Direct-to-consumer print ads for drugs: do they undermine the physician-patient relationship?

BACKGROUND: Critics of direct-to-consumer print advertising for drugs (DTCA) contend it alters physician-patient communication by promoting greater patient participation and control. We assessed the nature of messages in print DTCA to identify potential guidelines they may provide to consumers for communicating with physicians. METHODS: We analyzed all unique advertisements (ie, excluded ads repeated across issues or magazines) in 18 popular magazines (684 issues) from January 1998 to December 1999 (n=225). We identified every statement that referred to physicians, and within that set, statements that focused on physician-patient communication. Each communication-related statement was coded as a message to consumers about communication in terms of cues suggesting who should initiate communication, who should be in relational control, and appropriate interaction topic(s). RESULTS: More than three-quarters (83.8%) of the advertisements' statements referring to physicians focused on physician-patient communication (M=2.6 per ad; SD=1.8). Most (76.1%) of these messages explicitly or implicitly promoted consumers initiating communication, but cast the physician in relational control (54.5%). The most frequently suggested interaction topics were clinical judgments of the product's appropriateness (41.8%) and information about the product (32.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Typical direct-to-consumer print ads contain multiple messages about communicating with physicians. The patterned nature of these messages appears to promote social norms for consumers' communication behavior by repeatedly implying the appropriateness of consumers initiating interaction, physicians maintaining relational control, and avoiding negative consequences of advertised drugs as conversational topics.

Advertising↗

PubMed1993

A multivariate analysis of choice criteria for hospitals.

This study determines the choice criteria used by consumers in selecting a hospital and provides information useful to hospital administrators in planning and implementing marketing efforts directed toward potential consumers. The findings suggest that physical plot, previous experience with the hospital, location of hospital, overall cost, and reputation of the hospital were important factors in selecting a hospital.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

How consumers choose a pharmacy.

Public access to outcomes data is increasing, and these data are being used to compare the performance of health care providers. This paper presents a model of consumer choice wherein a consumer's involvement, expertise, and opportunity determine the extent of problem-solving and the types of information considered. Consumers use a multiattribute decision process when all three factors are present. They use heuristics, choose randomly, or avoid making a decision if involvement, expertise, or opportunity are lacking. Consumers (N = 757) contacted by mail survey rated their involvement and ability to select a pharmacy. There were 461 responses (61%). Involvement and ability scores correlated with consumer demographics and experience in prescription purchasing. Before consumers will thoughtfully choose a pharmacy based on outcomes records, they must be motivated to invest the effort, have relevant information about alternatives, and know how to use that information to make an appropriate choice.

Choice Behavior↗

PubMed1993

Issues in the consumer choice of health care coverage plans.

Developing and implementing successful marketing strategies for prepaid health care coverage plans is becoming an important issue as managers of these plans struggle to remain competitive in the market place. This paper provides insight into the reasons why consumers make choices among varying types of health care coverage plans. Some suggestions are made to plan managers for incorporating these results into the development of marketing strategies for prepaid health care coverage plans.

Arkansas↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Will quality report cards help consumers?

This study assesses the relationship between the salience of quality information and how well it is understood by consumers. The analysis is based on survey data and content analysis from focus-group data (104 participants). The findings show that poorly understood indicators are viewed as not useful. Consumers often do not understand quality information because they do not understand the current health care context. All of this suggests that salience alone is not sufficient to determine which indicators should be included in report cards.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

How consumers choose health insurance.

The authors used choice-based conjoint analysis to model consumers' decision processes when evaluating and selecting health insurance in a multiplan environment. Results indicate that consumer choice is affected by as many as 19 attributes, some of which have received little attention in previous studies. Moreover, the importance of the attributes varies across different demographic segments, giving marketers several targeting opportunities.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

On making the right choice: the deliberation-without-attention effect.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not always advantageous to engage in thorough conscious deliberation before choosing. On the basis of recent insights into the characteristics of conscious and unconscious thought, we tested the hypothesis that simple choices (such as between different towels or different sets of oven mitts) indeed produce better results after conscious thought, but that choices in complex matters (such as between different houses or different cars) should be left to unconscious thought. Named the "deliberation-without-attention" hypothesis, it was confirmed in four studies on consumer choice, both in the laboratory as well as among actual shoppers, that purchases of complex products were viewed more favorably when decisions had been made in the absence of attentive deliberation.

Attention↗