What Patients expect

Dr. Karan Thakur / December 25. 2015

With the new government, the question on the minds of health policy makers, industry bodies, analysts & providers is how to create a 21st century health system that is accessible, equitable and affordable. Endless debates on what should be done to achieve the aim of health for all fail to spot the lack of focus on asking a fundamental question – what does the patient expect?

Health services need to be designed and aligned to the needs and wants of the end user and consumer. In case of healthcare, the end user is not a homogenized demographic, but rather a heterogeneous mix of populations that have great socio-economic, geographic and cultural divides. Some key aspects of what the end users want have been summarised in the below mentioned points.

Access and Accessibility

Accessibility to health services finds mention in all discussions on healthcare. However, the definition of accessibility to health services has been too closely tied down to mere provisioning of services. While provisioning remains key to accessibility, many a times having infrastructure and trained manpower is not enough to access care. The availability of doctors & availability of key medicines is key to what patients expect out of the health system.

Transparency

Patients often find the health system, treatment planning & payment structures opaque. Though health insurance has been a boon to ensure access to quality health as has been the introduction of health IT in billing & data management. But these systems have also made difficult to understand how treatments are planned and paid for. Patients expect hospitals & providers to do a better job of explaining costs, payments options and help in better financial planning for their medical conditions.

Cost-Effectiveness

With rising costs & increased out-of-pocket spending for health services, patients have become more demanding. The previously held logic of expensive treatment being more effective has now been replaced with a cautious consumer of medical services who questions each modality, weighing the benefits, both in terms of costs and outcomes. Hospitals and providers must ensure that they make patients understand why a particular treatment was chosen over another.

Trust

In India, trust was considered sacrosanct and inherent for doctors. The virtual praise of medical professionals was a primary motive for young Indians to aspire to become doctors. But the past decade has seen a gradual erosion of that previously held exalted positioning of doctors. Doctors and associations are often unfairly targeted by media and many a times misleading information lead patients to judge their providers with suspicion. While some of these notions are no doubt unfair and monolithic to describe an entire profession, the acts of a few in the profession have led credence to the reason for distrust. Doctors, associations and hospitals must do more to win back the trust of patients through ethical and transparent practices. Adequate communication also plays a key role in enabling a more trustworthy environment.

Affordability

When asked, most patients and their families’ express their willingness to spend money for quality care. Citizens are happy to pay a user fee for public services, including in health, provided that quality remains uncompromised. Although, rising cost of healthcare has been an area of concern that needs to be addressed. Whether, it is through increasing the health insurance cover or more effective payment architectures through Government schemes, the need to rein in healthcare costs is paramount for any patient.

Health Education & Access to Information

Doctors often regret the increasing trend of patients using the internet to arrive at conclusions for their medical condition and treatment. When questioned, patients often complain lack of information being made available to them by doctors. The dependence on internet is driven by ease of access to online information from varied sources. But the reliability of information is questionable. The health system must help in creating wider awareness on the entire spectrum of health subjects. The advent of social media and increasing penetration of the Internet through mobile phones presents a unique opportunity to “socialize” health information.

For policymakers and the health sector, creating a modern health system cannot be achieved without listening to the voices of those for whom it is being created. The more we listen, the better system we will create for the world to emulate.

Download full documents