Do patients' information requirements for choice in health care vary with their socio-demographic characteristics?

Publisher: Wiley Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9815926 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1369-7625 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 13696513 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Health Expect Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Oxford, UK : Wiley, c1998-

Choice Behavior* ; Information Seeking Behavior* ; Patient Preference*/economics; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; England ; Female ; Health Personnel ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Physician-Patient Relations ; Quality of Health Care ; Social Class ; Young Adult

Objectives: This study examines whether the information used to inform hospital choice, and the sources of that information, varies with patients' socio-demographic characteristics. It also examines whether information used by patients to inform choice is associated with attending their local hospital.
Methods: A survey of 1033 patients who were offered a choice of hospital provider for elective treatment in England. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between patient characteristics and information used to inform choice of a hospital provider and sources of information used.
Results: Factors most important to patients in choosing a hospital were quality of care, cleanliness, standard of facilities and reputation. While quality of care and related factors are important to the majority of patients, those with lower levels of education were more likely to report that location and appointment times were important. Those who thought quality important were more likely to attend their local hospital provider. The main sources of information used to inform choice of hospital were own experience, family and friends and the general practitioner (GP). Patients who sought advice from their GP or booking advisors were less likely to attend their local hospitals.
Conclusions: Differences among patients as to what factors are important when choosing a hospital provider and what information and support they access suggest there needs to be a variety of information sources and support available to promote choice. Greater shared decision making through active involvement and support by GPs or booking advisors may be required if they are to make choices in line with their preferences.
(© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

JAMA. 1998 May 27;279(20):1638-42. (PMID: 9613914)
Med Decis Making. 2011 Nov-Dec;31(6):816-27. (PMID: 22067430)
Am J Med Qual. 2008 Jan-Feb;23(1):56-9. (PMID: 18187591)
Med Decis Making. 2012 Nov-Dec;32(6):764-78. (PMID: 22546750)
BMC Health Serv Res. 2011 Sep 09;11:214. (PMID: 21906293)
BMJ. 2003 Feb 22;326(7386):407-8. (PMID: 12595351)
BMC Health Serv Res. 2012 May 25;12:126. (PMID: 22630354)
J Health Serv Res Policy. 2011 Apr;16 Suppl 1:22-8. (PMID: 21460346)
JAMA. 2000 Apr 12;283(14):1866-74. (PMID: 10770149)
Med Decis Making. 2010 Sep-Oct;30(5):544-55. (PMID: 20110514)
Health Aff (Millwood). 2004 May-Jun;23(3):37-44. (PMID: 15160801)
J Health Serv Res Policy. 2006 Jul;11(3):162-6. (PMID: 16824263)

PR-HE-0107-10019 United Kingdom Department of Health

Keywords: information requirements; patient choice of provider

Date Created: 20130529 Date Completed: 20160706 Latest Revision: 20211021

20221213

PMC5060873

10.1111/hex.12086

23711113