Patients' preference on selecting a medical institution

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Health Services Research
• Consumer Behavior in Healthcare

Background:

• Patient selection of medical institutions is influenced by various factors.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for healthcare providers to align services with patient preferences.
• The impact of organizational form on patient choice requires quantitative evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the relative importance of different attributes in patient selection of medical institutions.
• To quantitatively assess the influence of various organizational forms on patient choice.
• To provide insights into patient decision-making processes for healthcare services.

Main Methods:

• Conjoint analysis was employed to examine patient selection criteria.
• A hypothetical scenario of suspected diabetes diagnosis guided the study design.
• Key attributes evaluated included medical institution quality, distance, costs, and organizational form.

Main Results:

• Medical institution quality emerged as the most significant attribute in patient selection.
• Organizational form was identified as the least important attribute.
• Public hospitals were most preferred, while company-managed and private hospitals were least preferred.

Conclusions:

• Quality of care is the paramount factor for patients selecting a medical institution.
• Organizational form has a minimal impact on patient choice compared to quality.
• Findings offer valuable insights for healthcare institutions in Japan regarding patient preferences.