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Allocating limited health care resources – the tragedy of patient relations with the mass media
Author(s) -
Berg J. E.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 0907-2055
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.1997.tb00177.x
Subject(s) - stylized fact , publicity , mass media , health care , welfare , business , social media , tragedy (event) , distribution (mathematics) , advertising , public economics , marketing , economics , psychology , political science , law , market economy , mathematical analysis , mathematics , psychiatry , macroeconomics , economic growth
The allocation of limited resources for social welfare purposes, including health care, may be distorted by publicity in the mass media. Acting on behalf of a personified welfare customer, the results of the media coverage may instead be distortions in the distribution of resources. An actual case and stylized examples are used to indicate that the willingness to pay for health care depends on the distance between customer and decision‐maker. The role of the mass media in serious medical treatment decisions is then discussed.