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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Refik Saydam (The Hilton Istanbul Hotel )
Background: In Germany as well as in other developed countries, the aging population together with the development of new and expensive health technologies result in an increased demand of health care. Concomitant limited resources in the health care system make priority setting inevitable. Within the research project FOR655 (funded by the German Research Foundation) the views regarding priority setting in different stakeholder groups were examined by semi-structured interviews.
Methods: 45 interviews were conducted with healthy people (n=9), patients (n=12), physicians (n=7), nurses (n=6), politicians (n=5), and representatives of statutory health insurances (n=6) on the question of how to allocate the limited resources in the health care system. Interviews were subjected to content analysis and coding frequencies were determined.
Study population: The sample comprised 26 men and 19 women with a mean age of 46.8 ± 15.3 years (range 19 to 70 years). 70.5% (n=31) were members of the statutory health insurance.
Results: Regarding persons who should be preferred in resource allocation, children and adolescents were named most frequently (n=16), followed by persons needing treatment (n=15) and patients with severe disease (n=12). Notable differences between stakeholder groups were not observed. However, physicians and healthy people tended towards restricting the financing of health care for persons with self-inflicted disease (n=14). Regarding age conflicting positions could be observed. In general, most of the interviewees stated that priority should be given to preventive measures (n=29) and the area of research and development (n=11). Unnecessary treatment should be avoided (n=16), and expenditure for the pharmacy industry should be restricted (n=12).
Conclusion: This qualitative research elucidated the views of different stakeholder groups concerning criteria of priority setting. Based on its findings, a representative population survey and a conjoint analysis will be conducted to further examine general and specific aspects of prioritising.
Methods: 45 interviews were conducted with healthy people (n=9), patients (n=12), physicians (n=7), nurses (n=6), politicians (n=5), and representatives of statutory health insurances (n=6) on the question of how to allocate the limited resources in the health care system. Interviews were subjected to content analysis and coding frequencies were determined.
Study population: The sample comprised 26 men and 19 women with a mean age of 46.8 ± 15.3 years (range 19 to 70 years). 70.5% (n=31) were members of the statutory health insurance.
Results: Regarding persons who should be preferred in resource allocation, children and adolescents were named most frequently (n=16), followed by persons needing treatment (n=15) and patients with severe disease (n=12). Notable differences between stakeholder groups were not observed. However, physicians and healthy people tended towards restricting the financing of health care for persons with self-inflicted disease (n=14). Regarding age conflicting positions could be observed. In general, most of the interviewees stated that priority should be given to preventive measures (n=29) and the area of research and development (n=11). Unnecessary treatment should be avoided (n=16), and expenditure for the pharmacy industry should be restricted (n=12).
Conclusion: This qualitative research elucidated the views of different stakeholder groups concerning criteria of priority setting. Based on its findings, a representative population survey and a conjoint analysis will be conducted to further examine general and specific aspects of prioritising.
Learning Objectives: The target audience of this presentation includes all people involved in decision-making in health care systems (physicians, nurses, representatives of health insurances, and people who are affected by the decisions (the insured, patients). Describe the main criteria for prioritization in different stakeholder groups.
Sub-Theme: The impact of changing demography on public health
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