Preferences for centralised emergency medical services: discrete choice experiment

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Public Health Policy
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Public preferences are crucial for effective emergency healthcare reforms.
• Understanding public priorities in emergency medical services (EMS) delivery is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate public preferences for local versus centralized emergency medical services (EMS).
• To identify key considerations individuals deem important for EMS delivery.

Main Methods:

• A discrete choice experiment was conducted with a randomly sampled general population.
• Logistic regression modeling analyzed preferences for attributes like travel time, waiting time, and risk of death.

Main Results:

• Respondents favored shorter travel/waiting times and lower risks, but were willing to trade these for higher quality centralized care.
• Individuals would travel 9 min more for a 1-day reduction in hospital stay, 38 min for a 1% lower death risk, and 112 min for local outpatient follow-up.

Conclusions:

• Centralized emergency medical services (EMS) are valued when they offer higher quality care.
• The public demonstrates a willingness to accept longer travel and waiting times for improved quality in emergency services.