title: Assessing willingness to pay for health care quality improvements.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Contingent valuation (CV) is used to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of consumers for specific attributes to improve the quality of health care they received in three hospitals in Bangladesh.
  
  
  METHODS
  Random sample of 252 patients were interviewed to measure their willingness to pay for seven specified improvements in the quality of delivered medical care. Partial tobit regression and corresponding marginal effects analysis were used to analyze the data and obtain WTP estimates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients are willing to pay more if their satisfaction with three attributes of care are increased. These are: a closer doctor-patient relationship, increased drug availability and increased chances of recovery. The doctor patient relationship is considered most important by patients and exhibited the highest willingness to pay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides important information to policy makers about the monetary valuation of patients for improvements in certain attributes of health care in Bangladesh.
authors: Department of Economics, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Sylhet, 3114, Bangladesh. sadikpavel@gmail.com.
authors: Md Sadik
authors: MS
authors: Pavel
authors: Department of Economics, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Sylhet, 3114, Bangladesh. sayan.chakrabarty@usq.edu.au.|Australian Digital Futures Institute (ADFI), University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia. sayan.chakrabarty@usq.edu.au.|Australian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, QLD, 4300, Australia. sayan.chakrabarty@usq.edu.au.
authors: Sayan
authors: S
authors: Chakrabarty
authors: School of Commerce, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia. gow@usq.edu.au.|Research Associate, Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban, South Africa. gow@usq.edu.au.
authors: Jeff
authors: J
authors: Gow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001459:Bangladesh; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D005251:Fees, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000191:economics*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000191:economics*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000191:economics*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics*
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