Demanding Customers: Consumerist Patients and Quality of Care

Fang Hai (), Miller Nolan H. (), John Rizzo and Richard Zeckhauser
Additional contact information
Fang Hai: University of Colorado Denver
Miller Nolan H.: University of Illinois

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2011, vol. 11, issue 1, 51

Abstract: Consumerism arises when patients acquire and use medical information from sources other than their physicians. This practice has been hailed as a means of improving quality. This need not be the result. Our theoretical model identifies a channel through which consumerism may reduce quality: consumerist patients place additional demands on their doctors’ time, thus imposing a negative externality on other patients. Relative to a world in which consumerism does not exist, consumerism may harm other consumerists, non-consumerists, or both. Data from a large national survey of physicians confirm the negative effects of consumerism: high levels of consumerist patients are associated with lower perceived quality among physicians.

Keywords: consumerism; health care quality; physician time; time allocation; time budget (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Demanding Customers: Consumerist Patients and Quality of Care (2008)
Working Paper: Demanding Customers: Consumerist Patients and Quality of Care (2008)
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DOI: 10.2202/1935-1682.2966

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