Barriers to patient-physician communication about out-of-pocket costs

Patient-physician communication about out-of-pocket costs.

CONTEXT Out-of-pocket costs account for approximately one fifth of health care expenditures and are increasing. Previous research suggests that these costs are associated with medication nonadherence and considerable economic burden among some patients. Little is known about patient-physician communication regarding these costs. OBJECTIVE To identify patients' and physicians' beliefs and prac...

Physician-patient communication about dietary supplements.

OBJECTIVE Describe the content and frequency of provider-patient dietary supplement discussions during primary care office visits. METHODS Inductive content analysis of 1477 transcribed audio-recorded office visits to 102 primary care providers was combined with patient and provider surveys. Encounters were collected in Los Angeles, CA (2009-2010), geographically diverse practice settings acr...

Out-of-pocket health care costs.

Designing and Psychometric Assessing of Physician-Patient Communication Skills Tool

Background: Assessment of physicians’ communication skills with patients is essential to ensure effective treatment. Achieving such a goal requires the use of a valid, native, and culturally-based tool. This study aimed to design a physician-patient communication skills assessment tool and evaluate its validity and reliability among the medical students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences,...

How to reduce out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications.

The cost of prescription medicines has recently been rising faster than other healthcare costs.  This is also true for traditionally inexpensive generic medications that have long served as a fundamental healthcare safety net in the USA.  These changes increasingly present challenges for individuals to obtain common medications.  Owing to rising insurance co-pays, even patients who have prescri...