Most consumers of health care services and their providers agree that the U.S. health care system is headed down the wrong road. But defining the right road at present seems to be an elusive task for both parties.
That's the conclusion of a study — "How We View Health Care in America: Consumer and Provider Perspectives"— released by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and IPSO Public Affairs.
The two partnered to design a survey that would gather information from health care consumers, health care administrators, primary care providers and medical specialists on how they currently rate the U.S. medical system, and how they think it may evolve.
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The survey found that, in general, most health care consumers are happy with their primary care providers. After that, satisfaction drops off, and an underlying anxiety about the whole system surfaces.
When asked if they thought the system was "on the right track," 67 percent said no. And when questioned about other elements of the health system, there was far less satisfaction than with primary care service. For instance, here's the satisfied/very satisfied numbers for the following:
- Wait time for an appointment: 68 percent
- Amount of paperwork required to pay for services: 61 percent
- Ability to see a specialist without a referral: 59 percent
- Cost of out-of-pocket expenses: 55 percent
The researchers said the survey turned up a fair amount of uncertainty among consumers about many different components of the health care system, ranging from ability to pay for complete coverage to having access to the primary care and specialty services they have become accustomed to in the past.
A sizable majority of the health care professionals surveyed also felt the system was headed in the wrong direction. The breakdown when asked if the industry were headed in the right direction was as follows:
- Health care administrators: 34 percent answered yes.
- Primary care physicians: 24 percent
- Specialists: 10 percent
The survey reported that, while to-thirds of providers said they were comfortable with the viability of their practices, a smaller percent (61 percent) said their practice "is well positioned to succeed in a changing health care environment." Older medical professionals in particular expressed concerns about maintaining viable practices in the face of the changes roiling through the medical profession.
Controlling the cost of doing business ranked high as a priority for all three professional groups. But they weren't in agreement about how to control those costs. Here's what Booz Allen said:
"All of the health care provider groups agree that controlling and reducing costs is essential, but they disagree on how to get there. More specialists (68 percent) cite tort reform, while prevention is seen as most promising for primary care doctors (61 percent) and administrators (76 percent). And while administrators are top advocates of prevention, they also embrace many emerging practices in which physicians place little confidence. These include technology (66 percent), telemedicine (55 percent), accountable care organizations (57 percent) and patient-centered medical homes (56 percent)."
The study explored other areas of consumer-professional overlap, such as the use of advanced technologies to enhance health care delivery and payment. Booz Allen and IPSO said that, because this is the initial study of this type that they have conducted, the results will serve as a baseline for further research into the same subject areas.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
