Consumer Participation in Health Decision-Making - Assignment Example

? Consumer Participation in Health Decision-Making Consumer Participation in Health Decision-Making Introduction Healthcare industry has had its way of operation influenced from different approaches especially in terms of decision making. Concerning this, there has been adoption of consumer participation in making decisions about healthcare which has contributed to better healthcare and cheaper healthcare service provisions. This paper looks into some of the aspects of consumer participation in making decisions in healthcare industry from an argumentative point of view. Consumer-Centered Healthcare Consumer centered healthcare refers to insurance plan on health services which permits members to access and use saving accounts for healthcare services and provisions, reimbursement accounts for healthcare and/or rhyming healthcare products through which to pay consistent healthcare costs in a more or less direct approach (Reyna, 2008, p. 864). Consumer decision making in healthcare is important in activating healthcare consumers. Hanoch and Rice (2006, p. 45) point out that this is because it helps in having consumers on healthcare industry to make sound decisions regarding their plans in healthcare as well as on healthcare services, provisions and providers. However, there seems to be similar responses regarding choices on healthcare planning and providers amongst consumers. This is because consumers in this case make their own choices with preference to healthcare services which satisfy them. Through participation of consumers in healthcare decision making, there is essence in that consumers are enabled to make choices and plans regarding their health prior to incidents of illness. This is attributed to the fact that consumer-driven healthcare draws essence from factors of choice some of which include financial concerns and a panel through which healthcare provisions are based (Tversky and Kahneman, 1981, p. 467). Furthermore, quality is a matter of consideration when consumer-driven healthcare is embraced since it forms one of the bases. This makes it possible and relevant to determine differences in healthcare prices relative to the level of healthcare quality focused on. Reyna (2008, p. 854) notes that this is true with healthcare insurance providers and it employs choice of effectiveness and efficiency in healthcare services. Consumer-driven healthcare is also important since itis readily available especially in terms of healthcare planning (Tversky and Kahneman, 1981, p. 455). This is made possible by way of acquisition of relevant information on healthcare services, products, pricing and provisions which are critical to healthcare. There have been criticisms regarding consumer-centered healthcare matching it to being a burden to consumers following pricing which are deemed as expensive. Hanoch and Rice (2006, p. 67) observe that this has been debated on as per the existence of healthcare lacking in transparency as far as healthcare pricing is concerned. This has also been linked to inadequacy in information in healthcare market and environment. Appropriate Role of Consumers in Decision-Making There is an important role played by healthcare consumers in making decisions in healthcare industry. This has drawn more attention on patients who in a number of cases get caught up in situations of inadequate information regarding healthcare plans, healthcare practitioners and healthcare facilities which they deal with (Reyna, 2008, p. 861). This has been majorly contributed by aspects which include constraints and essential information in the healthcare sector. Appropriate role of consumers in making healthcare decisions therefore entails right choice or selection of doctors, hospitals and healthcare plans to adopt so as to obtain the best healthcare services which are also satisfactory to them. This should focus on ensuring that healthcare practitioner, plans and facilities are mutually interactive with healthcare consumers who mostly form patients. Appropriate role of healthcare consumers also involves determination of effective and efficient healthcare services and providers by the patients (Reyna, 2008, p. 864). This should have recognition of individual reception as far as a specified healthcare service is concerned. Determination of treatments and diagnoses also form part of a patient’s roles in healthcare decision making and these should be based on the recommended treatment and services. Their role should look into different available options which influence their way of reasoning regarding healthcare services and provisions following a given medical incident. Besides, it is appropriate for consumers to place their priority on relevance of what medical situations they are involved with. Consumers are also charged with the role of determining the right decisions in healthcare by basing their reasoning on guidelines provided for them on account of their preference and choices (Tversky and Kahneman, 1981, p. 458). This should seek sound consent which is guided by ethical considerations on healthcare provisions while at the same time taking care of informed choices. The basis of consumer role in this also takes care of costs and planning which are directly focused on patients’ preferences and priorities with respect to their healthcare needs at any specified time. It is therefore important for consumers to be active in healthcare since they play a vital role especially in formulating policies guiding healthcare industry. Obstacles to Consumer Participation Even though consumer-centered decision making in the healthcare industry has been of great contribution to the healthcare industry, it has had a number of obstacles to deal with. These have affected its adoption in a number of ways. One of the obstacles which consumer decision making in healthcare has faced is external constraints (Reyna, 2008). This has been experienced especially from employers in healthcare industry who have always limited choices raised while at the same time manipulating payments. These have affected the outcomes of health decisions in healthcare industry since application of resources vested in the industry is directly affected. Another obstacle has been criticism especially regarding pricing approaches resulting from the outcomes of consumer decision making in healthcare (Hanoch and Rice, 2006, p. 68). This has been seen following criticisms pointed to aspects of transparency as far as healthcare pricing is concerned in healthcare service and provisions. These have been viewed as not holding to transparency since they do not accommodate every social class in the society. Conflicts between performance payments and consumer choices have also been experienced as obstacles in consumer decision making (Reyna, 2008, p. 853). This has mainly been attached to quality and guidelines based on fundamental measures of decision support in healthcare quality. Differences Accruing from Consumer Participation Consumer participation in healthcare decision making makes evident differences especially with regards to consumers’ response in healthcare (Reyna, 2008, p. 849). One of the ways through which differences have been realized is in the involvement of consumers in many areas of decisions since they have played a great role in influencing healthcare services and provisions industry. There have been differences in the way healthcare services are offered following impacts from consumers in making health decisions. There have been improvements in information provision in healthcare as well as enhanced supply of healthcare resources which enable consumers to effectively access proper healthcare services, treatment and provisions. There have been growing awareness and interest in a number of activities in the healthcare industry following participation of consumers in making healthcare decisions (Hanoch and Rice, 2006, p. 53). This has been particularly linked to involvement of consumers in influencing safety and quality in healthcare. Collaboration with healthcare consumers has led to improvement in health outcomes in various communities. This is because there have been a lot of investment in consumer interests as far as healthcare services and provisions are concerned. Therefore, many improvements have been adopted into healthcare industry which has consequently contributed to improved healthcare. There has been difference in accessibility of information about healthcare services, provision, providers and facilities (Reyna, 2008, p. 849). This has been widely noticed following support compelled by the active role of healthcare consumers. Management in healthcare sector has also changed thereby leading to evident differences in the healthcare industry marking improvement. Another difference which has been seen emanating from consumer decision making in healthcare is effectiveness and efficiency in service development practices (Reyna, 2008). These have been achieved following adoption of varied approaches in provision of healthcare and influenced by consumer role in decision making in the healthcare industry. This has seen facilitation of health services even in marginalized areas. Furthermore, there have been better strategies for designing, creating, executing, evaluating and monitoring healthcare programs in a more integral approach than it previously used to be. Conclusion Although there have been obstacles in consumer participation in health decision making, it has been of importance in healthcare sector. This is evident in the way healthcare sector has been influenced in a number of ways. Through consumer participation in health decision making, healthcare industry has experienced several improvements especially in terms of medical expenses and service provision in healthcare industry. Following consumer driven healthcare, there has been significant value placed on individual healthcare as well as formulation of policies which have made the healthcare effective. References Hanoch, Y., and Rice, T. (2006). Can Limiting Choice Increase Social Welfare? The Elderly and Health Insurance. The Milbank Quarterly Journal, 84 (1), 37–73. Reyna, V. F. (2008). A Theory of Medical Decision Making and Health: Fuzzy Trace Theory. Journal of Medical Decision Making, 28 (6), 850–865. Tversky, A., and Kahneman, D. (1981). The Framing of decisions and the psychology of Choice. Journal of Medical Science, 211 (4481), 453–458. Read More