Healthcare Cost Reduction and Health Insurance Policy Improvement

Factors influencing the intention to purchase health insurance: a study of Indian tobacco and alcohol consumers

Introduction

This study empirically investigates the attitude of tobacco and alcohol consumers towards health insurance purchase in India. The study aims to determine the factors which plays a significant role in determining the purchase intention of health insurance among tobacco and alcohol consumers.

Methods

We propose an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model comprising factors like attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, perceived usefulness, perceived product risk, and intention to purchase. We collected responses from 420 tobacco and alcohol consumers through a Google Form link shared via different social media platforms. SPSS has been used to perform exploratory factor analysis, whereas AMOS has been used to validate the constructs, confirm the relationships among the variables, and analyze the data.

Results

The analysis outcomes demonstrate that subjective norms, perceived product risk, and perceived behavioral control are the factors that have a positive and significant effect on health insurance purchase intention among consumers.

Discussion

This research offers valuable insights to the insurance sector, government officials, policymakers, and academicians. Insurance companies may consider the criteria analysed when creating policies to promote the expansion of the health insurance sector.

Leagility in the healthcare research: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Expenditure of healthcare services has been growing over the past decades. Lean and agile are two popular paradigms that could potentially contain cost and improve proficiency of the healthcare system. However no systematic review was found on leagilty in the healthcare research. This study aims at synthesizing the extant literature of leagility in the healthcare area to consolidate its potential and identify research gaps for future study in the field.

METHODS

A systematic literature review is conducted following the PRISMA checklist approach. Studies were searched in multiple databases. The selection of articles was executed by dual-scanning of two researchers to ensure quality of data and relevance to the topic. Scientific articles published between January 1999 and November 2023 concerning leagile healthcare are analysed using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer (version 1.6.18).

RESULTS

Out of 270 articles identified from the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 24 were included in the review. A total of 11 target areas were identified in leagility applications in healthcare. Success and limiting factors of leagile healthcare were classified into macro and micro aspects and further categorized into six dimensions: policy, organization, human resources, marketing, operation management and technology. Moreover, four research gaps were revealed and suggestions were provided for future study.

CONCLUSION

Leagility in the healthcare context is still being in its infancy. Few empirical validation was found in leagile healthcare literature. Further exploration into the application of theory in various sectors under the scope of healthcare is appealed for. Standardization and modularization, leadership support, skillfulness of professionals and staff training are the factors most frequently mentioned for a successful implementation of leagility in the healthcare sector.

A taskforce for national improvement of innovation implementation in radiotherapy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Previous research among Dutch radiotherapy centres (RTCs) showed that 69% of innovations was simultaneously implemented in 7/19 centres, with a success rate of 51%. However, no structure to share lessons learned about the implementation process existed. Therefore, a national Taskforce Implementation (TTI) was raised to stimulate efficient implementation of innovations. The aim of the current study was to develop and pilot-evaluate a website for facilitating mutual learning on implementation issues.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

First, we made an inventory in all Dutch RTCs on their 10 most valuable innovations between 2019 and 2022. In-depth interviews, structured according to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, were performed on the four most mentioned topics. A website was built, and pilot evaluated 1 year after the launch, using a qualitative survey amongst the TTI members.

RESULTS

In 13/18 centres, 19 interviews were conducted on 1) automation, 2) patient participation, 3) adaptive radiotherapy 4) surface guided radiotherapy and tracking. Most innovations (13/16) were implemented with a delay, with many comparable challenges: e.g. shortage of personnel (7/16) and prioritization of projects (9/16). The website allows users to upload and search for projects, including implementation experiences. After 1 year, 14 projects were uploaded. The qualitative evaluation was largely positive with room for improvement, i.e.75 % would recommend the website to others.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that RTCs experience comparable challenges when implementing innovations, thereby underlining the need for a platform to share implementation-lessons learned. The first concept of this platform was evaluated positively.