Patient time
Monday, February 9 2009
My distrust of economists is latent theme on this blog, but I think there may be something to this study:
Any student of Econ 101 knows that economists measure costs by opportunity costs, meaning everything that is given up to get something else. Time spent interacting with the medical system could be used for other activities, such as work and leisure. Moreover, spending time getting medical care is not fun. This time should be counted as part of the cost of health care. [...]
Patient time is an important input in the health care system. Failing to take account of patient time leads us to exaggerate the productivity of the health care sector, and to understate the cost of health care.
The time that patients spend seeking, receiving and paying for health care services is just as real as the dollars they spend for medical services. Health care providers and insurers should be mindful of the opportunity cost of patients’ time.
What makes this study different from those I’ve criticized is that the author begins from the patient’s point-of-view. Obviously, I am more sympathetic to this approach. In particular, this study offers a pretty clear refutation of the claim that most patients don’t bear a substantial cost for their health care. They do – in the form of lost time.
