Eliciting preference for private health services among patients in Iran: evidence from a discrete choice experiment
International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare
ISSN: 2056-4902
Article publication date: 5 January 2022
Issue publication date: 16 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The provision of private health-care services by public hospitals is common in Iran. Examining factors associated with patients’ preferences to use private health services and using this knowledge in health planning and policymaking can help expand the use of such services. Thus, this study aims to investigate patients’ preferences for private health services delivered in public hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a discrete choice experiment from a sample of 375 patients in a public training hospital in Qazvin, northwest city of Iran, the authors evaluated participants’ preference over the health-care attributes affecting their choice to use private health-care services delivered in the hospital. The authors also estimated the marginal willingness to pay to determine the maximum amount a patient was willing to pay for the improvement in the level of each health-care attributes.
Findings
The findings revealed that patients were 2.7 times more likely to choose private hospital services when the waiting time was reduced to less than a week. Furthermore, as patients had complimentary insurance coverage, they were over 60% more likely to receive such services from training hospitals. Finally, continuity of care and reduced health-care tariffs were significant factors that increased patients’ preference to choose private services by 52 and 37%, respectively.
Originality/value
Examining factors associated with patients’ preferences to use private health services and using this knowledge in policymaking can help expand such services. The findings affirmed that various incentives, including service quality factors, are required to increase the likelihood of patients choosing private services.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Ethics approval and consent to participate: QUMS approved this project by the Ethical Committee with the reference number: IR.QUMS.REC.1398.020 and the Institutional Review Board of the University, Qazvin (Iran). Informed consent was obtained and documented with a written signature or a fingerprint. Furthermore, the ethics commission at QUMS approved all experimental protocols, and all methods were carried out under relevant guidelines and regulations. Availability of data and materials: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Citation
Ansari, F., Rafiei, S., Kakemam, E., Amerzadeh, M. and Ahadinezhad, B. (2023), "Eliciting preference for private health services among patients in Iran: evidence from a discrete choice experiment", International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 316-326. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-06-2021-0137
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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