[Uncertainty, relationship with agencies and asymmetrical information (II)].
In the second part of this article, the author relates the "knightian" uncertainty to consumer, i.e. patient, preferences and to types of choice, considering that choice in a health organization usually is made based on uncertain, or high risk, expectations whose determination is often difficult. The author reviews the concepts of 1) "ethical risk"--or potencial overuse of a form of treatment when the consumer does not bear its cost directly--, 2) "asymmetrical information", and 3) "adverse choice"; all of which are related to relationships with an agency and therefore, have the corresponding costs derived from these agencies themselves. Finally, the author reviews the "agency theory" and, in relationships to the agency itself, evaluates the "agency costs", costs which are not always evaluated in a just manner. The author make use of the same flight comparison, British Airways flight number 1, as he did in the first part of this article to bring these concepts into health field and to provide a clearer description of these concepts.
Ruiz Moreno
J
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Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital Sagrado Corazón, Barcelona.
D002755:Choice Behavior; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D017048:Health Care Costs; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000592:standards*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018579:Patient Selection; D012309:Risk-Taking; D016896:Treatment Outcome