The introduction of integrated out-of-hours arrangements in England: a discrete choice experiment of public preferences for alternative models of care

Preferences of older adults for healthcare models designed to improve care coordination: evidence from Western Switzerland

Implementing innovations in care delivery in Switzerland is challenging due to the fragmented nature of the system and the specificities of the political process (i.e., direct democracy, decentralized decision-making). In this context, it is particularly important to account for population preferences when designing policies. We designed a discrete choice experiment to study population preferences for coordination-improving care models. Specifically, we assessed the relative importance of model characteristics (i.e., insurance premium, presence of care coordinator, access to specialists, use of EMR, cost-sharing for chronic patients, incentives for informal care), and predicted uptake under different policy scenarios. We accounted for heterogeneity in preferences for the status quo option using an error component logit model. Respondents attached the highest importance to the price attribute (i.e. insurance premium) (0.31, CI: 0.27- 0.36) and to the presence of a care coordinator (0.27, CI: 0.23 - 0.31). Policy scenarios showed for instance that gatekeeping would be preferred to free access to specialists if the model includes a GP or an interprofessional team as a care coordinator. Although attachment to the status quo is high in the studied population, there are potential ways to improve acceptance of alternative care models by implementation of positively valued innovations.

Healthcare preferences of the general Chinese population in the hierarchical medical system: A discrete choice experiment

Background

Chinese health insurance system faces resource distribution challenges. A patient-centric approach allows decision-makers to be keenly aware of optimized medical resource allocation.

Objective

This study aims to use the discrete choice model to determine the main factors affecting the healthcare preferences of the general Chinese population and their weights in the three scenarios (chronic non-communicable diseases, acute infectious diseases, and major diseases).

Methods

This study firstly identified the key factors affecting people's healthcare preferences through literature review and qualitative interviews, and then designed the DCE questionnaire. An online questionnaire produced by Lighthouse Studio (version 9.9.1) software was distributed to voluntary respondents recruited from mainland China's entire population from January 2021 to June 2021. Participants were required to answer a total of 21 questions of three scenarios in the questionnaire. The multinomial logit model and latent class model were used to analyze the collected data.

Results

A total of 4,156 participants from mainland China were included in this study. The multinomial logit and latent class model analyses showed that medical insurance reimbursement is the most important attribute in all three disease scenarios. In the scenario of "non-communicable diseases," the attributes that participants valued were, from the most to the least, medical insurance reimbursement (45.0%), hospital-level (21.6%), distance (14.4%), cost (9.7%), waiting time (8.3%), and care provider (1.0%). As for willingness to pay (WTP), participants were willing to pay 204.5 yuan, or 1,743.8 yuan, to change from private hospitals or community hospitals to tertiary hospitals, respectively.

Conclusions

This study explores the healthcare preferences of Chinese residents from a new perspective, which can provide theoretical reference for the refinement of many disease medical reimbursement policies, such as developing different reimbursement ratios for various common diseases and realizing rational configuration of medical resources.

The burden of chronic diseases and patients' preference for healthcare services among adult patients suffering from chronic diseases in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have a disproportionately high burden of chronic diseases, with inequalities in health care access and quality services. This study aimed to assess patients' preferences for healthcare services for chronic disease management among adult patients in Bangladesh.

METHODS

The present analysis was conducted among 10,385 patients suffering from chronic diseases, drawn from the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016-2017. We used the multinomial logistic regression to investigate the association of chronic comorbid conditions and healthcare service-related factors with patients' preferences for healthcare services.

RESULTS

The top four dimensions of patient preference for healthcare services in order of magnitude were quality of treatment (30.3%), short distance to health facility (27.6%), affordability of health care (21.7%) and availability of doctors (11.0%). Patients with heart disease had a 29% significantly lower preference for healthcare affordability than the quality of healthcare services (relative risk ratio [RRR] = 0.71; 0.56-0.90). Patients who received healthcare services from pharmacies or dispensaries were more likely to prefer a short distance to a health facility (RRR = 6.99; 4.80-9.86) or affordability of healthcare services (RRR = 3.13; 2.25-4.36). Patients with comorbid conditions were more likely to prefer healthcare affordability (RRR = 1.39; 1.15-1.68). In addition, patients who received health care from a public facility had 2.93 times higher preference for the availability of medical doctors (RRR = 2.93; 1.70-5.04) than the quality of treatment in the health facility, when compared with private service providers.

CONCLUSIONS

Patient preferences for healthcare services in chronic disease management were significantly associated with the type of disease and its magnitude and characteristics of healthcare providers. Therefore, to enhance service provision and equitable distribution and uptake of health services, policymakers and public health practitioners should consider patient preferences in designing national strategic frameworks for chronic disease management.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Our research team includes four researchers (co-authors) with chronic diseases who have experience of living or working with people suffering from chronic conditions or diseases.

Conjoint analyses of patients’ preferences for primary care: a systematic review

Background

While patients’ preferences in primary care have been examined in numerous conjoint analyses, there has been little systematic effort to synthesise the findings. This review aimed to identify, to organise and to assess the strength of evidence for the attributes and factors associated with preference heterogeneity in conjoint analyses for primary care outpatient visits.

Methods

We searched five bibliographic databases (PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Econlit and Scopus) from inception until 15 December 2021, complemented by hand-searching. We included conjoint analyses for primary care outpatient visits. Two reviewers independently screened papers for inclusion and assessed the quality of all included studies using the checklist by ISPOR Task Force for Conjoint Analysis. We categorized the attributes of primary care based on Primary Care Monitoring System framework and factors based on Andersen’s Behavioural Model of Health Services Use. We then assessed the strength of evidence and direction of preference for the attributes of primary care, and factors affecting preference heterogeneity based on study quality and consistency in findings.

Results

Of 35 included studies, most (82.4%) were performed in high-income countries. Each study examined 3–8 attributes, mainly identified through literature reviews (n = 25). Only six examined visits for chronic conditions, with the rest on acute or non-specific / other conditions. Process attributes were more commonly examined than structure or outcome attributes. The three most commonly examined attributes were waiting time for appointment, out-of-pocket costs and ability to choose the providers they see. We identified 24/58 attributes with strong or moderate evidence of association with primary care uptake (e.g., various waiting times, out-of-pocket costs) and 4/43 factors with strong evidence of affecting preference heterogeneity (e.g., age, gender).

Conclusions

We found 35 conjoint analyses examining 58 attributes of primary care and 43 factors that potentially affect the preference of these attributes. The attributes and factors, stratified into evidence levels based on study quality and consistency, can guide the design of research or policies to improve patients’ uptake of primary care. We recommend future conjoint analyses to specify the types of visits and to define their attributes clearly, to facilitate consistent understanding among respondents and the design of interventions targeting them.

Word Count: 346/350 words.

Trial registration

On Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/m7ts9

Patient and Public Preferences for Coordinated Care in Switzerland: Development of a Discrete Choice Experiment

Objective

Our objective was to develop and test a discrete choice experiment (DCE) eliciting public and patient preferences for better-coordinated care in Switzerland.

Methods

We applied a multistage mixed-methods procedure using qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, to identify attributes, we performed a review of the DCE literature in healthcare with a focus on chronic care. Next, attribute selection involved stakeholders (N = 7) from various healthcare sectors to select the most relevant and actionable attributes, followed by three organized focus groups involving the general public and patients (N = 21) to verify the selection and the clarity of the DCE tasks and explanations. Finally, we conducted an online pilot in the target population to test the survey and obtain priors for a final six tested attributes to refine the final design of the experiment.

Results

After identifying an initial 33 attributes, a final list of six attributes was selected following stakeholder involvement and the three focus groups involving the target population. At the online pilot-testing stage with 301 participants, the majority of respondents found the DCE choice tasks socially relevant for Switzerland but challenging. The quality of the answers was relatively high. Most attributes had signs matching those in the literature and focus group discussions.

Conclusion

This article will be useful to researchers designing DCEs from a broad health policy perspective. The multistage approach involving a range of stakeholders was essential for the development of a DCE that is relevant for policy makers and well-accepted by the general public and patients.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40271-021-00568-2.

Factors affecting willingness to pay for NHS-based orthodontic treatment

Objective To assess factors affecting willingness to pay for orthodontic treatment.Methods An online discrete choice experiment and willingness to pay study was conducted on a convenience sample of 250 participants aged 16 and above over a four-month period. Participants completed a series of stated-preference tasks, in which they viewed choice sets with two orthodontic treatment options involving different combinations of attributes: family income; cost to patient; cause of problem; prevention of future problems; age; severity of the problem; and self-esteem/confidence.Results Family income, cost to patient, cause of the problem, age and self-esteem/confidence were the most important attributes influencing participants' decisions to have orthodontic treatment. Participants felt that free NHS-based orthodontic provision should be prioritised for those under 18, regardless of family income, for those with developmental anomalies, particularly where self-esteem and confidence are affected, with younger participants (aged 16-24 years) strongly preferring full NHS funding for those under 18 years old (p = 0.007, 95% CI: 0.57-0.09) who dislike smiling in public, especially where self-esteem and confidence are impaired (p = 0.002, 95% CI: 0.16-0.71). Participants with high annual income had the highest preference for the NHS to fund treatment regardless of income (p = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.13-1.47) and placed an onus on addressing developmental anomalies (p = 0.004, 95% CI: 0.22-1.15). In total, 159 (63.6%) of those who would undergo treatment were willing to pay for it, with the majority (88%) open to paying up to £2,000 and only three participants stating the NHS should not contribute towards the cost of orthodontic treatment.Conclusions Based on this pilot study, key factors influencing the decision to undergo treatment included family income, cost, the aetiology of malocclusion, age and self-esteem/confidence. It was felt that free NHS-based treatment should be given priority where self-esteem and confidence are impaired among young people. Further research to inform the priorities underpinning the provision of dental care and orthodontic treatment within the NHS is required.

Towards improving primary care: Considerations on a Sicilian population-based survey

Background

The healthcare reforms have led to the development of new primary care systems. These models allowed responding to people's needs but with problems in maintaining the relational continuity between the patient and therapist.

Materials and Methods

We performed a survey on 12 May 2018, in Messina (Sicily, Italy), during an informational event. Participants were invited to fill in a self-reported Italian questionnaire composed of 12 multiple-choice questions, specifically created by the authors. The tool included the assessment of the social status, the presence of chronic diseases, preference in health care, and evaluation of the services offered in the territory.

Results

As for the territorial services, we observed that the general practitioner (GP) was the most appreciated healthcare provider, followed by the nurse.

Conclusions

We believe that nurses can represent the most appropriate healthcare figure to potentiate GP's patient management in primary territorial care.

Public preferences for primary care provision in Germany - a discrete choice experiment

Background

Primary care is a central element of healthcare and addresses the main health problems of the population. While primary care gains in importance due to an aging population, there is an ongoing debate on physician shortages in German rural regions. The study aims on analyzing the population’s preferences on primary healthcare and, therefore, on helping policy makers to make care delivery more responsive to patients’ needs when planning political reforms of primary care.

Methods

A paper-based discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to assess preferences of the population of eight rural regions in Germany. Based on literature search and qualitative research, six attributes were selected and included in the choice experiment. The survey presented participants with eight choice sets in which they had to choose between two possible scenarios of care. A conditional logistic regression as well as a latent class model (LCM) were used to analyze preferences for primary healthcare.

Results

Nine hundred four participants completed the survey (response rate 46.1%). The conditional logistic regression showed significant impact of the attributes “home visits”, “distance to practice”, “number of healthcare providers”, “opening hours of the practice”, and “diagnostic facilities” on the respondents’ choices of primary healthcare alternatives. Moreover, the LCM identified four classes that can be characterized by preference homogeneity within and heterogeneity between the classes.

Conclusion

Although the study revealed heterogeneous preferences among the latent classes, several similarities in preferences for primary care could be detected. The knowledge on these public preferences may help policy makers when implementing new models of primary care and, thus, raise the populations’ acceptance of future primary care provision and innovative care models.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12875-019-0967-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Patients' preferences for primary health care - a systematic literature review of discrete choice experiments

BACKGROUND

Primary care is a key element of health care systems and addresses the main health problems of the population. Due to the demographic change, primary care even gains in importance. The knowledge of the patients' preferences can help policy makers as well as physicians to set priorities in their effort to make health care delivery more responsive to patients' needs. Our objective was to describe which aspects of primary care were included in preference studies and which of them were the most preferred aspects.

METHODS

In order to elicit the preferences for primary care, a systematic literature search was conducted. Two researchers searched three electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO) and conducted a narrative synthesis. Inclusion criteria were: focus on primary health care delivery, discrete choice experiment as elicitation method, and studies published between 2006 and 2015 in English language.

RESULTS

We identified 18 studies that elicited either the patients' or the population's preferences for primary care based on a discrete choice experiment. Altogether the studies used 16 structure attributes, ten process attributes and four outcome attributes. The most commonly applied structure attribute was "Waiting time till appointment", the most frequently used process attribute was "Shared decision making / professional's attention paid to your views". "Receiving the 'best' treatment" was the most commonly applied outcome attribute. Process attributes were most often the ones of highest importance for patients or the population. The attributes and attribute levels used in the discrete choice experiments were identified by literature research, qualitative research, expert interviews, or the analysis of policy documents.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the DCE studies show different preferences for primary health care. The diversity of the results may have several reasons, such as the method of analysis, the selection procedure of the attributes and their levels or the specific research question of the study. As the results of discrete choice experiments depend on many different factors, it is important for a better comprehensibility of the studies to transparently report the steps undertaken in a study as well as the interim results regarding the identification of attributes and levels.

Parents' preferences for enhanced access in the pediatric medical home: a discrete choice experiment

IMPORTANCE

Efforts to transform primary care through the medical home model may have limited effectiveness if they do not incorporate families' preferences for different primary care services.

OBJECTIVE

To assess parents' relative preferences for different categories of enhanced access services in primary care.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

Internet-based survey that took place with a national online panel from December 8, 2011, to December 22, 2011. Participants included 820 parents of children aged 0 to 17 years. Hispanic and black non-Hispanic parents were each oversampled to 20% of the sample. The survey included a discrete choice experiment with questions that asked parents to choose between hypothetical primary care practices with different levels of enhanced access and other primary care services.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

We estimated parents' relative preferences for different enhanced access services using travel time to the practice as a trade-off and parents' marginal willingness to travel in minutes for practices with different levels of services.

RESULTS

The response rate of parents who participated in the study was 41.2%. Parents were most likely to choose primary care offices that guaranteed same-day sick visits (coefficient, 0.57 [SE, 0.05]; P < .001) followed by those with higher professional continuity (coefficient, 0.36 [SE, 0.03]; P < .001). Parents were also significantly more likely to choose practices with 24-hour telephone advice plus nonurgent email advice (0.08 [0.04]; P < .05), evening hours 4 or more times a week (0.14 [0.04]; P < .001), and at least some hours on weekends. Parents were significantly less likely to choose practices that were closed during some weekday daytime hours or had wait times longer than 4 weeks for preventive care visits. There was very little variation in preferences among parents with different sociodemographic characteristics. Parents' marginal willingness to travel was 14 minutes (95% CI, 11-16 minutes) for guaranteed same-day sick visits and 44 minutes (95% CI, 37-51 minutes) for an office with idealized levels of all services.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

As primary care practices for children implement aspects of the medical home model, those that emphasize same-day sick care and professional continuity are more likely to meet parents' preferences for enhanced access. Practices should seek to engage families in prioritizing changes in practice services as part of medical home implementation.

Community preferences in general practice: important factors for choosing a general practitioner

BACKGROUND

Understanding the important factors for choosing a general practitioner (GP) can inform the provision of consumer information and contribute to the design of primary care services.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the factors considered important when choosing a GP and to explore subgroup differences.

DESIGN

An online survey asked about the respondent's experience of GP care and included 36 questions on characteristics important to the choice of GP.

PARTICIPANTS

An Australian population sample (n = 2481) of adults aged 16 or more.

METHODS

Principal components analysis identified dimensions for the creation of summated scales, and regression analysis was used to identify patient characteristics associated with each scale.

RESULTS

The 36 questions were combined into five scales (score range 1-5) labelled: care quality, types of services, availability, cost and practice characteristics. Care quality was the most important factor (mean = 4.4, SD = 0.6) which included questions about technical care, interpersonal care and continuity. Cost (including financial and time cost) was also important (mean = 4.1, SD = 0.6). The least important factor was types of services (mean = 3.3, SD = 0.9), which covered the range of different services provided by or co-located with the practice. Frequent GP users and females had higher scores across all 5 scales, while the importance of care quality increased with age.

CONCLUSIONS

When choosing a GP, information about the quality of care would be most useful to consumers. Respondents varied in the importance given to some factors including types of services, suggesting the need for a range of alternative primary care services.

Designing a package of sexual and reproductive health and HIV outreach services to meet the heterogeneous preferences of young people in Malawi: results from a discrete choice experiment

BACKGROUND

This article examines young people's preferences for integrated family planning (FP) and HIV services in rural Malawi. Different hypothetical configurations for outreach services are presented using a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE). Responses are analysed using Random Parameters Logit and Generalised Mixed Logit (GMXL) models in preference space and a GMXL model parameterised in willingness-to-pay space. Simulations are used to estimate the proportion of respondents expected to choose different service packages as elements are varied individually and in combination.

RESULTS

Responses were collected from 537 young people aged 15-24. Results show that when considering attending an outreach service to access family planning young people value confidentiality and the availability of HIV services including HIV counselling and testing (HCT) and HIV treatment, though significant observable and unobservable heterogeneity is present. Female respondents and those aged 20-24 were less concerned with service confidentiality compared to male respondents and those aged 15-19; respondents who were in a relationship at the time of the survey valued confidentiality more than those who reported being single. The addition of sports and recreation for young people may also be an attractive feature of a youth-friendly service; however, preferences for this attribute vary according to respondent gender. Results of the simulation modelling indicate that the most preferred service package is one that offers confidential services, both HCT and HIV treatment and sports for youth, with up to 32% of respondents expected to choose this service over a service where clients may have concerns over confidentiality, only HCT is available and there are no additional activities for young people. Estimates of willingness-to-pay for service attributes indicate that respondents were willing to pay up to USD$1.76 for confidentiality, USD$0.65 for a service offering both HCT and HIV treatment and USD$0.26 for a service including sports for youth.

CONCLUSIONS

Young people were able to complete a complex DCE and appeared to trade between the different characteristics used to describe the outreach services. These findings may offer important insight to policy makers designing youth friendly SRH outreach services and providers aiming to improve the acceptability and uptake of FP services.

Determinants of the choice of GP practice registration in England: evidence from a discrete choice experiment

There have been growing concerns that general practitioner (GP) services in England, which are based on registration with a single practice located near the patient's home, are not sufficiently convenient for patients. To inform the decision as to whether to change registration rules allowing patients to register 'out-of-area' and to estimate the demand for this wider choice, we undertook a discrete choice experiment with 1706 respondents. Latent class models were used to analyse preferences for GP practice registration comparing preferences for neighbourhood and non-neighbourhood practices. We find that there is some appetite for registering outside the neighbourhood, but this preference is not uniformly shared across the population. Specifically individuals who are less mobile (e.g. older people and those with caring responsibilities), or satisfied with their local practice are less likely to be interested in registering at a practice outside their neighbourhood. Overall, people feel most strongly about obtaining an appointment with a GP as quickly as possible. Respondents regarded weekend opening as less important than other factors, and particularly less important than extended practice opening hours from Monday to Friday. Assuming a constant demand for GP services, a policy encouraging GP practices to extend their opening hours during the week is likely to decrease the average patient waiting time for an appointment and is likely to be preferred by patients.

Applying discrete choice modelling in a priority setting: an investigation of public preferences for primary care models

OBJECTIVES

The shift toward more innovative and sustainable primary care models in Italy leads policy makers and clinicians to face difficult decisions between options that are all regarded as potentially beneficial. In this study, patient preferences for different primary care models in the Tuscany region of Italy were elicited. The relative importance of different attributes to the surveyed respondents was then examined, as well as the rate at which individuals trade between attributes and the relative value of different service configurations.

METHODS

A discrete choice experiment survey explored the following attributes in a stratified random sample of 6,970 adults: primary care provider, diagnostic facilities and waiting time for the visit.

RESULTS

Respondents (3,263) were likely to prefer a consultation by their own general practitioner (GP) and a practice with many diagnostic facilities. The predicted utilities of different service configurations have shown that a "primary care centre" with many diagnostic facilities was preferable to a "solo GP" model or a "group general practice".

CONCLUSIONS

The study demonstrated how a patient choice model could be used by decision makers for developing successful policies that takes into account different healthcare needs, balancing responsiveness with care continuity, equity and appropriateness. Considering that a primary care centre would perform better than a "solo GP", especially for younger respondents and for those with minor healthcare needs, for a more rapid diffusion of this model policymakers and managers could direct the care of primary care centres towards these targeted subgroups, at least in the first phase.

Preferences for managing symptoms of differing severity: a discrete choice experiment

BACKGROUND

To design cost-effective health services it is important to understand why people adopt particular symptom management strategies.

AIM

To establish the relative importance of factors that influence decision making when managing symptoms of differing severity, to establish how people trade between these factors, and to estimate the monetary value placed on different management types.

DESIGN

Discrete choice experiment.

SETTING

UK online research panel.

METHOD

Successive members of an online panel were invited to participate until 480 discrete choice experiment questionnaires were completed. Relative preferences for managing three symptom scenarios of varying severity were measured. Symptom management was described by three characteristics (management type, availability, and cost). Preferences for ways of managing symptoms were measured by using conditional logit analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 98.5% of the completed questionnaires were valid (473 of 480 respondents). People preferred to manage minor symptoms by self-care or by visiting a pharmacy and were willing to pay £21.58 and £19.06, respectively, to do so. For managing moderately severe symptoms, people preferred to consult a general practitioner and were willing to pay £34.86 for this option. People preferred to manage potentially very severe symptoms by consulting a general practitioner and were willing to pay £73.08 to do so. Respondents were willing to trade between management types; options less preferred became more attractive when waiting time and cost were reduced.

CONCLUSION

People value self-care, supported self-care, and general practitioner consultation differently depending on the type of symptoms. Manipulating costs to users and waiting times for different services could allow policymakers to influence the services people choose when managing symptoms.

PROSpER: PReferences for the Organisation of acute health Services for oldER people: protocol for a mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

Organisation of acute care services for people living in residential aged care facilities (RACF) is a complex area of health policy. For people living in RACF, the emergency department is often used to provide acute care; needs of RACF residents, however, are not always well met. Alternative models of delivering care must be acceptable to a variety of stakeholders; however, little is known about the values and preferences that people attach to aspects of how and where care is delivered.

METHODS/DESIGN

The PROSpER Study examines people's preferences for the organisation of acute healthcare services for older people in RACF. The authors aim to (1) determine which factors influence preferences of residents, carers and providers for how and where acute care is delivered and (2) determine the relative importance of these factors and the acceptable trade-offs between them. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be used. One-on-one interviews will be conducted with RACF residents, their families, staff of RACF and emergency department staff. A discrete choice study will then be designed to quantitatively assess preferences for alternative models of care delivery. Approximately 600 respondents from three respondent groups will be surveyed: older people living in RACF, family members of aged care residents and staff of RACF. A mixed logit model will be used; results will be expressed as parameter estimates (β) and odds of choosing one option over an alternative. Trade-offs between attributes will also be calculated.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The PROSpER Study has been approved by the University of Sydney, Human Research Ethics Committee (Protocol numbers 10653 and 14382) and Royal Perth Hospital Ethics Committee (reference 2009/045). Results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and via conference presentations; a newsletter will also be provided to study participants. A stakeholder roundtable will also be held to discuss the results.

Delays in response and triage times reduce patient satisfaction and enablement after using out-of-hours services

BACKGROUND

several different models of out-of-hours primary care now exist in the UK. Important outcomes of care include users' satisfaction and enablement to manage their illness or condition, but the determinants of these outcomes in the unscheduled care domain are poorly understood. Aim. To identify predictors of user satisfaction and enablement across unscheduled care or GP out-of-hours service providers in Wales. The design of the study is a cross-sectional survey. The setting of the study is nine GP out-of-hours services, three Accident and Emergency units and an all Wales telephone advice service in Wales.

METHODS

postal survey using the Out-of-hours Patient Questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to fit both satisfaction and enablement models, based on demographic variables, service provider and treatment received and perceptions or ratings of the care process.

RESULTS

eight hundred and fifty-five of 3250 users responded (26% response rate, range across providers 14-41%, no evidence of non-response bias for age or gender). Treatment centre consultations were significantly associated with decreased patient satisfaction and decreased enablement compared with telephone advice. Delays in call answering or callback for triage and shorter consultations were significantly associated with lower satisfaction. Waiting more than a minute for initial call answering was associated with lower enablement.

CONCLUSIONS

giving users more time to discuss their illness in consultations may enhance satisfaction and enablement but this may be resource intensive. More simple interventions to improve access by quicker response and triage, and keeping users informed of waiting times, could also serve to increase satisfaction and ultimately impact on their enablement.

What's the effect of the implementation of general practitioner cooperatives on caseload? Prospective intervention study on primary and secondary care

Background

Out-of-hours care in the primary care setting is rapidly changing and evolving towards general practitioner 'cooperatives' (GPC). GPCs already exist in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, all countries with strong general practice, including gatekeepers' role. This intervention study reports the use and caseload of out-of-hours care before and after implementation of a GPC in a well subscribed region in a country with an open access health care system and no gatekeepers' role for general practice.

Methods

We used a prospective before/after interventional study design. The intervention was the implementation of a GPC.

Results

One year after the implementation of a GPC, the number of patient contacts in the intervention region significantly increased at the GPC (OR: 1.645; 95% CI: 1.439-1.880), while there were no significant changes in patient contacts at the Emergency Department (ED) or in other regions where a simultaneous registration was performed. Although home visits decreased in all general practitioner registrations, the difference was more pronounced in the intervention region (intervention region: OR: 0.515; 95% CI: 0.411-0.646, other regions: OR: 0.743; 95% CI: 0.608-0.908). At the ED we observed a decrease in the number of trauma cases (OR: 0.789; 95% CI: 0.648-0.960) and of patients who came to hospital by ambulance (OR: 0.687; 95% CI: 0.565-0.836).

Conclusions

One year after its implementation more people seek help at the GPC, while the number of contacts at the ED remains the same. The most prominent changes in caseload are found in the trauma cases. Establishing a GPC in an open health care system, might redirect some patients with particular medical problems to primary care. This could lead to a lowering of costs or a more cost-effective out of hours care, but further research should focus on effective usage to divert patient flows and on quality and outcome of care.

Patients' priorities for ambulatory hospital care centres. A survey and discrete choice experiment among elderly and chronically ill patients of a Dutch hospital

OBJECTIVE

This study established patients' preferences regarding the facilities in an adjacent centre for ambulatory hospital care. It also identified determinants of patients' choice to visit this centre instead of the regional hospital.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey among 1477 elderly and chronically ill people (response 72%) assessed patients' expectations regarding (a) quality of hospital care, (b) facilities in centres for ambulatory hospital care, and (c) future use of these centres. Additionally, 75 patients participated in discrete choice experiments about their decision to visit a centre for ambulatory hospital care or the regional hospital.

RESULTS

Respondents prioritized facilities for examination and medical consultations in the ambulatory care centres. Half of the respondents also valued paramedic care, information desks and pharmacies as centre facilities. Most patients living near a future centre for ambulatory care would rather visit this centre than the regional hospital. However, they favoured seeing their familiar physician, short waiting lists and appointments scheduled consecutively on 1 day. If these aspects were not guaranteed at the adjacent centres, more patients chose to visit the hospital.

CONCLUSIONS

Although patients value most facilities, they set clear priorities. Furthermore, this study showed three important conditions in the decision to visit an ambulatory care centre; (1) the possibility to see their familiar physician, (2) to have consecutive appointments, and (3) a short waiting list. These three factors were more important to patients than proximity. Thus, when choosing between a hospital and an adjacent centre for ambulatory care, quality aspects matter.

How to do (or not to do) ... Designing a discrete choice experiment for application in a low-income country

Understanding the preferences of patients and health professionals is useful for health policy and planning. Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are a quantitative technique for eliciting preferences that can be used in the absence of revealed preference data. The method involves asking individuals to state their preference over hypothetical alternative scenarios, goods or services. Each alternative is described by several attributes and the responses are used to determine whether preferences are significantly influenced by the attributes and also their relative importance. DCEs are widely used in high-income contexts and are increasingly being applied in low- and middle-income countries to consider a range of policy concerns. This paper aims to provide an introduction to DCEs for policy-makers and researchers with little knowledge of the technique. We outline the stages involved in undertaking a DCE, with an emphasis on the design considerations applicable in a low-income setting.

Using the discrete choice experimental design to investigate decision-making about pressure ulcer prevention by community nurses

This study investigates the preferences of senior community nurses who work as district nurse team leaders in selecting preventive care plans for elderly people at high risk of pressure ulcer formation. The discrete choice experiment (DCE) technique was used. Focus group work produced the following five attributes of nurse decision-making: 'ease of care plan management', 'impact of care plan on patient's lifestyle', 'speed of obtaining the equipment', 'affordability', 'evidence-based practice'. These were incorporated into a self-administered questionnaire, posted to 102 nurses from two integrated acute/community NHS Trusts in Wales. A response rate of 55% was achieved. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of the selected attributes on a 5-point scale. They rated 'evidence-based practice', 'impact of care plan on patient's lifestyle', 'ease of care plan management' and 'speed of obtaining the equipment' highly, whereas 'affordability' was of less importance. However, regression analysis, which is part of the DCE technique, produced a somewhat different picture, with 'impact' being least and 'affordability' most statistically significant. The reasons for this apparent anomaly are discussed and the paper concludes that the DCE approach is capable of yielding important information, which is not produced by simple rating exercises. Such information is potentially of value in the context of modernisation and service configuration.