title: Willingness to pay for poison control centers.
abstract: We used the willingness-to-pay (WTP) method to value the benefits of poison control centers when direct access was blocked, comparing WTP among: (1) blocked callers (n = 396), (2) callers after access was restored (n = 418), and (3) the general population (n = 119). Mean monthly WTP was $6.70 (blocked callers), $6.11 (non-blocked callers), and $2.55 (general population). Blocked and non-blocked callers had a significantly higher WTP than general population respondents (p < 0.001). We conclude that the WTP method measured benefits that are difficult to quantify; however, WTP surveys need to be carefully conducted to minimize bias. We discuss how this approach could be useful for other health care services.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, USA. phillips@psg.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Homan
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Luft
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Hiatt
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Kearney
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Heard
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D015277:Hotlines / Q000191:economics*; D017059:Models, Econometric; D011039:Poison Control Centers / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012495:San Francisco; D013660:Taxes; D014481:United States