title: Decision-making criteria among European patients: exploring patient preferences for primary care services.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health economics preference-based techniques, such as discrete choice experiments (DCEs), are often used to inform public health policy on patients' priorities when choosing health care. Although there is general evidence about patients' satisfaction with general-practice (GP) care in Europe, to our knowledge no comparisons are available that measure patients' preferences in different European countries, and use patients' priorities to propose policy changes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A DCE was designed and used to capture patients' preferences for GP care in Germany, England and Slovenia. In the three countries, 841 eligible patients were identified across nine GP practices. The DCE questions compared multiple health-care practices (including their 'current GP practice'), described by the following attributes: 'information' received from the GP, 'booking time', 'waiting time' in the GP practice, 'listened to', as well as being able to receive the 'best care' available for their condition. Results were compared across countries looking at the attributes' importance and rankings, patients' willingness-to-wait for unit changes to the attributes' levels and changes in policy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 692 respondents (75% response rate) returned questionnaires suitable for analysis. In England and Slovenia, patients were satisfied with their 'current practice', but they valued changes to alternative practices. All attributes influenced decision-making, and 'best care' or 'information' were more valued than others. In Germany, almost all respondents constantly preferred their 'current practice', and other factors did not change their preference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  European patients have strong preference for their 'status quo', but alternative GP practices could compensate for it and offer more valued care.
authors.affiliation: 1 LSE Health and Social Care, The London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UK m.tinelli@lse.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tinelli
authors.affiliation: 1 LSE Health and Social Care, The London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UK.
authors.forename: Zlatko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nikoloski
authors.affiliation: 1 LSE Health and Social Care, The London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UK.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumpunen
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knai
authors.affiliation: 3 National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Radivoje
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pribakovic Brinovec
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: 1 LSE Health and Social Care, The London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UK.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wittgens
authors.affiliation: 1 LSE Health and Social Care, The London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UK.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dickmann
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D004739:England; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017524:Slovenia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires