title: Patient characteristics and fairness.
abstract: This study examines the fairness concept of health care professionals, and asks whether they are willing to use a patient's age and other potential fairness characteristics rather than health benefits as relevant arguments in the allocation of health care resources? The patient characteristics in the health care professionals' survey encompass age, productivity and lifestyle. The study is a replication of a much older study from the 1970s. The present study finds that the understanding of fairness among health care professionals differs from concepts of fairness in legislation. The status of various patient characteristics as rationing arguments has remained much the same, although nowadays health care professionals are expected to be more aware of moral dimensions and also legislation on patients' rights. The fairness concept of health care professionals may lead to resource allocation decisions that deviate from the intention of such legislation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, 70101, Kuopio, Finland. hannu.valtonen@uku.fi
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Valtonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D010820:Physicians; D012945:Social Values; D026712:Value of Life / Q000191:economics*