We tested to see how patients' attitudes towards their physician and medicine impacts the decision to fill prescriptions. Data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey were used to estimate a two part model of demand. The drug measure indicates how a patient perceives the effectiveness of drugs. The physician measure indicates the effect of the level of trust a patient has in the physician on the decision to fill a prescription. Results showed that, ceteris paribus, respondents who had favorable attitudes towards physician and drugs had a significantly higher probability and level of use of drugs than respondents who did not .
Attitudes are as important predictors of drug demand as health status and insurance coverage are.
Ricard, N. Health Economics Department Hoechst Marion Roussel Canada Research Inc, Laval, Quebec, Canada Kind, P. Centre for Health Economics University of York, York, England. Empirical evidence indicates that involving patients in decision making about their care improves their compliance with treatment, their perceptions of quality, and their outcomes. Such involvement can be achieved by explicitly monitoring patient's preferences particularly in regard to symptoms that impact on their quality of life. Methods of measuring patient-centered preferences do exist but no gold standard has been identified in this area. A preference scaling factor relating patient's impairment to each allergy symptom was recorded on a 10 centimeter feeling thermometer.