This paper reviews information from surveys and focus group studies about how consumers define high-quality care and the types of information they want when making decisions about which health plan to join. The authors also interviewed consumer advocacy groups and persons responsible for disseminating health plan information to Medicare enrollees in various types of managed care plans to learn ...

BACKGROUND Medicines are the most common intervention in most health services. As with all treatments, those taking medicines need sufficient information: to enable them to take and use the medicines effectively, to understand the potential harms and benefits, and to allow them to make an informed decision about taking them. Written medicines information, such as a leaflet or provided via the I...

BACKGROUND This article was written to determine the extent of consumers' needs for physician information and what information consumers use in decision making when selecting a physician. METHODS To collect data, a self-administered questionnaire was hand-delivered to 700 patients who visited the general surgery outpatient departments of seven hospitals during June 2003. A multiple logistic r...

Food manufacturers and policy makers have been tailoring food product ingredient information to consumers' self-reported preference for natural products and concerns over food additives. Yet, the influence of this ingredient information on consumers remains inconclusive. The current study aimed at examining the first step in such influence, which is consumers' attention to ingredient informatio...

BACKGROUND The concepts of evidence-based medicine are permeating all specialties, including family practice. This article describes a curriculum to teach residents the principles and practices of information mastery, a derivation of evidence-based medicine that is more relevant to family physicians. METHODS The curriculum is a 2-year longitudinal experience consisting mainly of didactic pres...

Genetically modified (GM) technology in food production continued to generate controversies. Consumers were concerned with the GM foods about the healthy and environmental risks. While consumers’ acceptance was a critical factor affecting how widely this technology be used. According to the research review, consumers’ lack of information was one of the reasons to explain consumers’ low acceptan...

We study optimal public health care rationing and private sector price responses. Consumers differ in their wealth and illness severity (defined as treatment cost). Due to a limited budget, some consumers must be rationed. Rationed consumers may purchase from a monopolistic private market. We consider two information regimes. In the first, the public supplier rations consumers according to thei...