A Qualitative Study of Vulnerable Patient Views of Type 2 Diabetes Consumer Reports
Authors
Longo, Daniel R.Crabtree, Benjamin F.
Pellerano, Maria B.
Howard, Jenna
Saver, Barry G.
Hannan, Edward L.
Lee, Justin
Lundberg, Michael T.
Sabo, Roy
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Family Medicine and Community HealthDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2015-11-07Keywords
Health Services AdministrationHealth Services Research
Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases
Public Health Education and Promotion
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
BACKGROUND: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates the release of publicly available consumer reports to highlight differences in quality of care and reduce healthcare disparities. However, little is known about patient perceptions of the value of such reports. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify whether vulnerable populations with type 2 diabetes perceive consumer reports as helpful in making decisions about diabetes care. METHODS: We conducted a brief demographic survey and qualitative study of 18 focus groups: six each of African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White consumers diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (n = 92). We analysed focus group transcripts to identify recurring themes, which were summarized and compared across population groups. RESULTS: Participants expressed minimal interest in currently available consumer reports. They instead listed personal referrals and interpersonal interactions among the most important factors when choosing a physician. Further, in place of information to aid in physician selection, participants articulated strong desires for more basic, straightforward disease-specific information that would promote diabetes self-management. CONCLUSIONS: This study's results call into question the value of consumer reports as defined by the ACA. Participants reported little interest in comparative provider performance data. Instead, they were more interested in information to assist in diabetes self-management. This suggests that consumer reports may not be as important a tool to improve outcomes and reduce health disparities as policy makers imagine them to be.Source
Patient. 2015 Nov 7. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1007/s40271-015-0146-8Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/30586PubMed ID
26547913Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1007/s40271-015-0146-8