Exploring public attitudes towards approaches to discussing costs in the clinical encounter.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patients' willingness to discuss costs of treatment alternatives with their physicians is uncertain.

Objective

To explore public attitudes toward doctor-patient discussions of insurer and out-of-pocket costs and to examine whether several possible communication strategies might enhance patient receptivity to discussing costs with their physicians.

Design

Focus group discussions and pre-discussion and post-discussion questionnaires.

Participants

Two hundred and eleven insured individuals with mean age of 48 years, 51 % female, 34 % African American, 27 % Latino, and 50 % with incomes below 300 % of the federal poverty threshold, participated in 22 focus groups in Santa Monica, CA and in the Washington, DC metro area.

Main measurements

Attitudes

SUBMITTER: Danis M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3889963 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature