Open AccessWillingness to Pay for Diagnostic Certainty
Author(s) -
Hirth Richard A.,
Bloom Bernard S.,
Chernew Michael E.,
Fendrick A. Mark
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of general internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.746
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 1525-1497
pISSN - 0884-8734
DOI - 10.1046/j.1525-1497.1999.00313.x
Subject(s) - willingness to pay , medicine , certainty , willingness to accept , value (mathematics) , actuarial science , cost–benefit analysis , ranking (information retrieval) , pay for performance , health care , ecology , philosophy , business , epistemology , machine learning , computer science , economics , biology , microeconomics , economic growth
Cost‐effectiveness analyses routinely ignore the value of diagnostic certainty. Moreover, no previous study has compared this value among different stakeholders. We surveyed 25 patients, 28 physicians, and 23 managed care executives to compare their willingness to pay for diagnostic information for peptic ulcer disease. Patients (84%) were most likely, and executives (43%) least likely, to be willing to pay at least $1 (median willingness to pay < $50). Differences in willingness to pay among stakeholders indicate potential for conflicts over access to tests. Although nearly all patients valued diagnostic certainty, its value was generally small and insufficient to change the cost‐effectiveness ranking of treatment alternatives.