Newhouse, Joseph P. creator author. Ware, John E. author. Donald, Cathy A. 1947- author. Rand Corporation United States Department of Health and Human Services. text bibliography cau 1981 monographic eng

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ix, 24 pages ; 23 cm A study of consumer knowledgeability about medical care services and its effect on the role consumers might play in decisions affecting resource allocation, especially whether competition and/or cost-sharing strategies should be pursued or whether regulatory strategies are more promising. An important goal of the study was to derive a scale that would permit measurement of the extent of consumer knowledge. Analyses of a ten-item questionnaire administered to nonaged persons showed that consumers are knowledgeable about some areas of medical care and uninformed about others. If a procompetitive medical care strategy is pursued, consumers need to be educated about board certification, staff privileges, and other factors pertinent to choosing a regular source of medical care. Factor analyses indicated that a substantial amount of information from item responses can be summarized in a multi-item scale that is reliable and valid as a measurement of patient sophistication. Joseph P. Newhouse, John E. Ware, Jr., Cathy A. Donald. "April 1981." Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-24). Also available on the internet via WWW in PDF format. n-us--- Medical care United States Public opinion Public opinion United States Consumer Participation Delivery of Health Care United States RA395.A3 N48 1981 0833003208 81007322 http://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R2693/ http://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R2693/ CstmoR 920212 rnd000000000047144