A Review on “Patient-Centered Care” from the Perspective of Behavioral Economics

Recently there is an obvious change in focus in health care and health system reforms in many countries. Attention is paid to holistic care instead of mere payment reform. In particular, there is a clear focus on “patient centered care” to improve health care efficiency and quality. On the other hand, studies in behavioral economics showed that people are not as rational as assumed by classic economic theories when making decisions under uncertainty. Furthermore, these irrationalities are predictable and systematic, such as bounded rationality, loss aversion, incomplete self-control, etc. So far there are more empirical studies on behavioral finance than in health economics. To what extent has the “patient centered health care” has been applied to heath care? What are the contexts and contents of these applications? How much evidence are there to support “patient centered health care”? And what are the challenges lie ahead in applying “patient centered health care”? Could the findings in behavioral economics enhance health care quality and care? This study intends to systematically summarize the abundant studies coming out in recent years after Mead & Bower (2000) and Rathert, Wyrwich, & Boren, (2013). By looking through studies of “patient centered health care” in the past 15 years, this study will shed some light on the development and challenges lie in the way of future “patient centered health care” from the perspective of behavioral economics. The application of “patient centered care” will be divided into the following 5 dimensions: biopsychosocial perspective, `patient-as-person, sharing power and responsibility, therapeutic alliance, and `doctor-as-person'. The health care will be divided into acute and chronic. Each study will be explored to document the contents of care, the type of diseases, and the effectiveness of care. The effectiveness and challenges will be analyzed from the perspective of behavioral economics. Policy implications will be discussed.

Project ID:PF10408-0719
External Project ID:MOST104-2410-H182-033