Discussing Costs in the Doctor-Patient Encounter

NCT01503853 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 99991113311-CH-N133
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 211
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background: \- The costs of medical care have a major effect on patients during illness and treatment. Surveys with patients and doctors show that both are interested in discussing the costs of treatment. But they rarely talk about these issues. Both worry about whether it is appropriate to discuss financial matters in the clinical setting. They are also concerned about whether this topic will be an awkward one. Researchers are interested in studying how people want their doctors to talk to them about the costs of illness and medical care. Objectives: \- To explore and better understand patients views on whether and how doctors should talk about the costs of illness and medical care. Eligibility: \- English- or Spanish-speaking adults (at least 18 years of age) who are covered by health insurance. Design:

• Participants will be asked to take part in a 2 1/2-hour focus group. Ten to 12 people will come together to discuss their thoughts and opinions.
• A member of the research team will lead the group discussion. The leader will ask a list of questions about health care payment issues. Those in the focus group will discuss these issues.
• Participants will receive a small cash payment and a light snack.

Conditions

Chronic Illness; Financial Burden

Keywords

Medical Costs; Health Care; Focus Groups

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

* ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: * RAND Corp Survey Research Group will be in charge of recruiting participants. They will work with an experienced focus group recruitment vendor to identify, screen and schedule eligible participants from the LA/Santa Monica area and the Washington DC area. Candidates for the focus groups must be individuals who are 18 years old or older, able to provide informed consent, and who speak English or Spanish well enough to participate in one of the focus groups. In addition, participants must have health insurance coverage at the time of recruitment. The focus groups will include a mix of participants in terms of gender, age, race/ethnicity, educational level, SES, and health insurance coverage type. While we will not be excluding HHS or other federal employees from participating (as we see no compelling reason to do so), we will not be recruiting predominantly HHS or other federal employees because we seek a generalizable sample. * Participants will be either English or Spanish speaking adults. Focus groups will include participants with the following varied characteristics: * age (working adults with and without dependents and retirees); ethnic/racial groups (African American, Latino, Non-Hispanic whites); * varied economic status (incomes below 300% of the Federal poverty threshold, and above). * Specifically, participants will be recruited to ensure sufficient socio-demographic representation and adequate numbers to test our study hypotheses. Because we will recruit subjects with the intention of producing generalizable results, we will not recruit disproportionate numbers of HHS or other federal employees (although these individuals will not be excluded from participation). * After the two pilot groups, twenty focus groups each including 8-12 participants will be conducted for a maximum total of 264 participants. Of the twenty focus groups, sixteen will be conducted in English and 4 will be conducted in Spanish. * Half of participants will have incomes under 300% of the federal poverty threshold in order to guarantee ascertainment of perspectives of participants of varied socio-economic status.

Contact the study team to discuss eligibility requirements. They can help determine if this study is right for you.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): lead

Study Sites (1)

RAND

Santa Monica, California, 90401, United States

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Blendon RJ, Brodie M, Benson JM, Altman DE, Buhr T. Americans' views of health care costs, access, and quality. Milbank Q. 2006;84(4):623-57. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2006.00463.x.

  PMID: 17096637 BACKGROUND

• Coast J. Who wants to know if their care is rationed? Views of citizens and service informants. Health Expect. 2001 Dec;4(4):243-52. doi: 10.1046/j.1369-6513.2001.00147.x.

  PMID: 11703498 BACKGROUND

• Halpern J. What is clinical empathy? J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Aug;18(8):670-4. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x.

  PMID: 12911651 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Chronic Disease; Financial Stress

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Marion Danis, M.D.

  National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: NIH
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 31, 2011
• First Posted: January 4, 2012
• Study Start: April 16, 2011
• Study Completion: September 16, 2016
• Last Updated: April 5, 2018

Record last verified: 2016-09-16

Locations

US (1)