Involving consumers in health care decision making.
This paper considers ways of involving consumers in decisions regarding the allocation of scarce health service resources. Specifically, two levels of consumer participation are highlighted and discussed. These are: (1) at the level of deciding whether or not a particular service should be introduced or its scale changed; and (2) at the level of deciding how best to provide a service once it has been decided that the service will be provided. The limitations of the current methods of involving consumers are outlined and two alternative approaches discussed. These are willingness to pay and conjoint analysis.
Shackley
P
P
Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Ryan
M
M
D003256:Community Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003625:Data Collection; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012044:Regression Analysis; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012606:Scotland; D012945:Social Values; D013222:State Medicine; D013997:Time Factors