Sarah Davis, Rachel Grob et al., Choosing Doctors Wisely: Can Assisted Choice Enhance Patients’ Selection of Clinicians?, 76 Med. Care Rsch. & Rev. J. 572 (2019)
Abstract
We conducted a simulated clinician-choice experiment, comparing choices and
decision-making processes of participants (N = 688) randomized among four
experimental arms: a conventional website reporting only quantitative performance
information, a website reporting both qualitative (patient comments) and quantitative
information, the second website augmented by a decision aid (labeling of patient
comments), and the decision-aided website further augmented by the presence of
a trained navigator. Introducing patient comments enhanced engagement with the
quality information but led to a decline in decision quality, particularly the consistency
of choices with consumers’ stated preferences. Labeling comments helped erase the
decline in decision quality, although the highest percentage of preference-congruent
choices was seen in the navigator arm. Engagement with the quality information and
satisfaction with choices available were likewise highest in the navigator arm. Findings
held for high- and low-skilled decision makers. Thus, navigator assistance may be a
promising strategy for equitably promoting higher quality choices in information-rich
contexts.