[Costs and fees in health care. Evaluation and assessment by cardiological patients]

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Health Economics
• Patient Perception

Context:

• Pilot study involving 70 cardiology patients.
• Assessed patient understanding of costs for procedures like coronary angiography, PTCA, heart transplantation, pacemakers, and prosthetic heart valves.
• Included estimation of healthcare professional salaries and identification of cost increase factors.

Purpose:

• To evaluate patient awareness and perception of healthcare costs.
• To identify patient-cited reasons for rising healthcare expenditures.
• To compare patient estimates with actual costs of cardiac procedures and devices.

Summary:

• 91.7% of patients perceived healthcare as expensive yet reasonable given the outcomes.
• Primary reasons cited for cost increases: expensive drugs (70.6%), high drug volume (56.9%), and an increasing elderly patient population (56.9%).
• Patients frequently misjudged costs, overestimating coronary angiography and underestimating PTCA, pacemakers, and prosthetic heart valves.

Impact:

• Highlights significant patient misinformation regarding the true costs of cardiac procedures and devices.
• Underscores the need for improved patient education and financial transparency in healthcare.
• Provides insights into patient-driven perceptions of healthcare economic drivers.