Investigation of the intent of patients to participate in cost sharing arrangements at the Atalanti Health Center

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Investigation of the determinants associated with the intent of involvement of citizens in the cost of upgrading primary health services by payment of an additional fee. METHOD the study was conducted in the period May-July 2009 with 150 participants aged over 18 years who attended the Health Center of Atalanti. Data were collected by personal interview using a questionnaire created for the purpose after an extensive literature review. Data analysis was conducted with the statistical package SPSS 15.0, using t test, chi square test and logistic regression, with the level of statistical significance set at 0.05. RESULTS almost half of the participants declared their willingness to participate in cost sharing by paying an extra fee, in order to receive upgraded health services. The factor that appeared to play a major role in the intent to participate in cost sharing was the type of health insurance. Specifically, participants who were insured by the Social Insurance Institution (IKA) reported being more willing to pay a small additional fee in order to gain upgraded health services, in a percentage of 63%, and they had a probability of expressing willingness four times higher than that of those insured by any other scheme. People in higher socio-economic groups and younger age groups tended to be more positive. Finally, this study examined the net potential revenues that could be incurred with the introduction of a cost sharing mechanism, which were estimated to be € 184,107.4 for the first year and € 186,357.4 for the following years. CONCLUSIONS It was confirmed that people in higher socio-economic groups and younger people tend to be more positive about the idea of participating in the cost of primary health care services. It was estimated that net revenues from the application of a cost sharing mechanism would be sufficient to fill some vacant positions with auxiliary doctors, but also to help purchase medical equipment and modernize the building infrastructure of the Health Center. © Athens Medical Society.