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Consumer‐Driven Health Care—Beyond Rhetoric with Research and Experience
Author(s) -
Gauthier Anne K.,
Clancy Carolyn M.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2004.00272.x
Subject(s) - health care , human services , agency (philosophy) , rhetoric , citation , health services research , sociology , management , health policy , medicine , library science , public relations , political science , law , social science , theology , computer science , philosophy , economics
The search for ways to stem the rising tide of health insurance premiums and improve the value of care being purchased has entered a new era. Bolstered by the explosion of information technology and prompted by the managed care backlash, “consumer-driven” health care in a variety of changing forms has emerged as a possible solution. The promise of greater consumer control over their dollars, greater choice of providers, personalized decision support, and the potential to stem Americans' propensity for more care without anonymous parties assessing its costs and benefits has appeal to many. But fear of adverse risk selection and disproportionately greater out-of-pocket costs for those who are sicker or poorer draws equal opposition. With ideological differences running deep and with the stakes so high in all directions, it is not surprising that rhetoric and anecdote abound.