Do physicians care about patient choice?

Area of Science:

• Healthcare policy analysis
• Physician behavior studies
• Patient choice research

Background:

• Sweden introduced a patient choice policy in the early 1990s, granting patients the right to select healthcare providers.
• Evaluations indicate that a limited number of patients actively utilize this right to choose their providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the role of physicians in the implementation of the patient choice policy.
• To investigate physicians' attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors regarding patient choice in healthcare referrals.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire survey was administered to 960 physicians in a populous Swedish county.
• Data collected focused on physicians' perspectives and practices related to patient choice and referrals.

Main Results:

• Physicians generally approve of the patient choice policy in principle.
• A minority of physicians regularly inform patients about choices or facilitate provider selection.
• Referrals are predominantly based on medical criteria, with patient preference being a secondary consideration.

Conclusions:

• Over a decade after policy introduction, physician practices largely do not align with the policy's intent.
• Physician behavior, particularly limited facilitation of patient choice, may explain low patient utilization of healthcare provider selection rights.