Involving consumers in health care decision making

This paper considers ways of involving consumers in decisions regarding the allocation of scarce health service resources. Specifically, two levels of consumer participation are highlighted and discussed. These are: (1) at the level of deciding whether or not a particular service should be introduced or its scale changed; and (2) at the level of deciding how best to provide a service once it has been decided that the service will be provided. The limitations of the current methods of involving consumers are outlined and two alternative approaches discussed. These are willingness to pay and conjoint analysis.