Choice Matters : How Healthcare Consumers Make Decisions (and Why Clinicians and Managers Should Care)

The direct-to-consumer business model has transformed how people seek out goods and services from music to mortgages. So what happens now that the revolution has come for healthcare? While consumers have begun to insist on healthcare that is as convenient and personalized as nearly every other good or service they purchase, most healthcare provider organizations, physicians, and insurance companies remain woefully unprepared to meet this demand. Choice Matters is the healthcare sector's guide to understanding and delivering the brand of consumer-centered care that is an imperative for the Zocdoc age. Drawing on the authors' diverse backgrounds in medicine, business, and public policy, this practically-oriented resource offers an on-the-ground introduction for clinicians and managers to better understand: - The differences between healthcare and other consumer-driven markets - What factors are most important for consumers in seeking care providers - How consumers make decisions about healthcare - The system-wide effects of increased consumer choice in healthcare - The important distinction between patients and consumers By celebrating the possibilities inherent to consumer-centered healthcare, Choice Matters offers a refreshing, empirically informed take on how healthcare in the United States can flourish, not wither, in the new economy.