The Role of Patients in Induced Demand from Experts’ Perception:A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Induced demand utilizes the advantage of higher information in respect to patients and too much care is presented with suspicious value. Therefore, the theory of induced demand is based on the assumption of asymmetric information between physician and patient. The patients do not have sufficient expertise to assess the level and quality of provided services. They rarely know what and how much medical care they need. In fact, due to some reasons, patients can influence the demand induction. They have unlimited wishes and desires in respect to the offered services. This article examines the role of the patient in the phenomenon of induced demand with the use of the experiences of experts of Isfahan University Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Method: The present research was a qualitative study. Semi-structured interview was used for data generation. Participants in this study were people who had been informed in this regard, were experienced, and were known as experts. Purposive sampling was done for data saturation. 17 people were interviewed and criteria such as "reliability of information" and "stability" of data were considered. The anonymity of the interviewees was preserved. The data were transcribed, categorized, and then used the thematic analysis. Results: In this study, according to thematic analysis 5 main themes and 7 sub-themes were extracted. They include the experiences of experts about the role of patients in induced demand. The 5 main themes include incorrect demand of patient from the physician, patients’ excessive trust in the physician, patient's desire to use much more free services and without copayment, patient’s unawareness, and free access to physicians. Each of these themes includes some sub-themes. Conclusion: The results of this study on the role of patients in induced demand help the policy makers to consider patients and related factors in their strategic planning in induced demand. Keywords: Induced demand, Healthcare, Patients

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