JCO abstract: Understanding Patients' Attitudes Toward Communication About the Cost of Cancer Care

 Blogger's Note: semantics - 'most'/'majority' requires language editing eg. majority 68%, most 59% (language bias?)

Understanding Patients' Attitudes Toward Communication About the Cost of Cancer Care

Abstract

Purpose: Recent publications have promoted physician-patient communication on cost as a means of decreasing overall spending and minimizing patients' financial burden in oncology. No study has assessed patients' perspectives on cost communication in oncology......

Results: Of the 771 patients approached, 256 responded (response rate, 33%). Most (68%) preferred to know about out-of-pocket costs before treatment. A majority (59%) wanted their physician to discuss these costs with them. Although 76% reported feeling comfortable discussing cost with their physician, 74% were amenable to discussing cost with someone other than their physician. Most patients did not consider out-of-pocket costs (57%) or the health care costs of the country (61%) in their decision making, nor did they believe their physician should (55%). Patients receiving active chemotherapy were less likely to want to discuss out-of-pocket costs with their physician (P = .035). 

Conclusion: Patients' comfort with and desire to discuss cancer costs exceed that of oncologists, suggesting a need to educate oncologists on this important topic. A patient's desire to understand treatment-associated cost does not equate with a desire for cost to influence medical decision making.

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Research Papers What Patients Tell Us about Primary Healthcare Evaluation Instruments: Response Form, Bad Questions and Missing Pieces

 Blogger's Note: there is a bias in this report (demographics of participants), however, an interesting read and in particular the integrity of the participants as per one quote below

sample:

Bad questions

When asked about questions they did not like, respondents consistently stated they did not like assessing processes occurring in the provider's mind or that they did not directly observe or experience. Almost all questionnaires contained such questions.....

Women's Health Matters Network: Women's College Hospital (Toronto) patient survey (n=1,000)

 Some background:
The new facility will include the Women’s College Research Institute (WCRI), making women’s health research a key focus.

‘Our research institute is one of the few in the world – and the only one in Canada – devoted to women’s health and innovations in ambulatory care,’ said Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe, an endocrinologist at Women’s College Hospital and a scientist at the WCRI who spoke at the event.

‘Our scientists ask questions that are not only unique to women’s lives, but that are specific to distinct communities of women.’


Selected results:
"Some notable results:

* Only 30 per cent of respondents said they felt empowered when dealing with health-care providers. A great many women had less positive feelings: 45 per cent said they felt isolated when visiting a hospital, 57 per cent said they felt afraid, 63 per cent felt frustrated and 76 per cent felt anxious.

* Sixty-five per cent of women felt they were treated like a number rather than a person, and 70 per cent felt the focus was on rushing them through their appointments and treatments rather than discussing their needs and circumstances.

* The vast majority – 88 per cent of respondents – said it was essential to approach health care holistically, treating the whole person rather than isolated body parts. However, less than half that number (43 per cent) felt that hospitals and health-care facilities actually achieved this.

* Most women prefer to remain in the community – and in their lives – while their conditions are treated. Ambulatory care – or outpatient treatment, as opposed to being admitted to hospital – was the preference of 90 per cent of respondents.

* A health-care facility that is knowledgeable about, sensitive to, and actively addresses diverse cultures was important to 80 per cent of respondents.

* More than 85 per cent of women feel women’s health issues should be a research priority for a health-care institution. However, only 56 per cent think institutions successfully keep women’s health at the forefront of research programs."