ArticleBMC family practice2013
Are patients' preferences regarding the place of treatment heard and addressed at the point of referral: an exploratory study based on observations of GP-patient consultations.
Article in BMC family practice, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patient preferences for conservative treatment of shoulder pain: a discrete choice experiment.Family practice · 2025Article
- What do Iranians value most when choosing a hospital? Evidence from a discrete choice experiment.PloS one · 2024Article
- Do patients' preferences prevail in hospital selection?: a comparison between discrete choice experiments and revealed hospital choice.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- To what degree do patients actively choose their healthcare provider at the point of referral by their GP? A video observation study.BMC family practice · 2019Observational
- Patient responsiveness to a differential deductible: empirical results from The Netherlands.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2019Article
- Glycemic control in type 2 diabetes: role of health literacy and shared decision-making.Patient preference and adherence · 2019Article
- The use of public performance reporting by general practitioners: a study of perceptions and referral behaviours.BMC family practice · 2018Article
- Patient involvement in decision-making: a cross-sectional study in a Malaysian primary care clinic.BMJ open · 2016Article
- Comparative performance information plays no role in the referral behaviour of GPs.BMC family practice · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundToday, in several north-western European countries, patients are encouraged to choose, actively, a healthcare provider. However, patients often visit the provider that is recommended by their general practitioner (GP). The introduction of patient choice requires GPs to support patients to be involved, actively, in the choice of a healthcare provider. We aim to investigate whether policy on patient choice is reflected in practice, i.e. what the role of the patient is in their choices of healthcare providers at the point of referral and to what extent GPs' and patients' healthcare paths influence the role that patients play in the referral decision.
methodsIn 2007-2008, we videotaped Dutch GP-patient consultations. For this study, we selected, at random, 72 videotaped consultations between 72 patients and 39 GPs in which the patient was referred to a healthcare provider. These were analysed using an observation protocol developed by the researchers.
resultsThe majority of the patients had little or no input into the choice of a healthcare provider at the point of referral by their GP. Their GPs did not support them in actively choosing a provider and the patients often agreed with the provider that the GP proposed. Patients who were referred for diagnostic purposes seem to have had even less input into their choice of a provider than patients who were referred for treatment.
conclusionsWe found that the GP chooses a healthcare provider on behalf of the patient in most consultations, even though policy on patient choice expects from patients that they choose, actively, a provider. On the one hand, this could indicate that the policy needs adjustments. On the other hand, adjustments may be needed to practice. For instance, GPs could help patients to make an active choice of provider. However, certain patients prefer to let their GP decide as their agent. Even then, GPs need to know patients' preferences, because in a principal-agent relationship, it is necessary that the agent is fully informed about the principal's preferences.
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