Patient autonomy and education in specific medical knowledge

Daniel Lukas

No 07/10, Dresden Discussion Paper Series in Economics from Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Economics

Abstract: The asymmetry between the patient as a layman and the physician as an expert is a key element in health economics. However, a change to a higher degree of patient autonomy has taken place. Furthermore, there is a consensus in a positive correlation between general education and productivity of medical care. This paper focuses on the individual investments of laymen in specific medical education as a decision problem in which the ex-post strategies of the individual are consultation and self-care as imperfect substitutes. It is assumed that specific knowledge increases the self-diagnosis competence (self-protection) and the self-care productivity (self-insurance) as dimensions of autonomy. The analysis is divided into two forms of ex-post decision making according to individual rationality: 1. ambiguity 2. uncertainty. An elaboration of necessary conditions for investments in education is undertaken.

Keywords: patient autonomy; education; self-care; ambiguity; uncertainty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D01 D80 I12 I20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:tuddps:0710

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