Physician-Patient Cost Conversations in Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Patient Experience at the Intersection of High Cost and Health Policy
Abstract
The out-of-pocket cost burden associated with healthcare in the United States imposes
broad hardship on patients. One quarter of Americans struggle to pay their healthcare
bills, and over half of personal bankruptcy filings in the United States cite healthcare
expenses as a contributing factor. This study examined 268 transcripts of audio-recorded
clinic encounters between rheumatoid arthritis patients and their rheumatologists
to better understand the patient experience in the face of high cost and begin to
inform high-impact areas for policy solutions moving forward. Qualitative analysis
of the transcripts identified three themes – emotional response, difficulty managing
complexity, and cost-induced non-adherence – that characterize the patient experience
when dealing with high cost. Informed by these transcript findings, subject matter
expert interviews directed the policy recommendations. In the future, policymakers
should continue to leverage the patient experience to motivate policy changes that
reduce the cost burden associated with expensive medical care.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
Public Policy StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11537Citation
Stayman, Max (2016). Physician-Patient Cost Conversations in Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Patient Experience
at the Intersection of High Cost and Health Policy. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11537.Collections
More Info
Show full item record
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Rights for Collection: Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info