“I think sometimes the whole process is just a little bit intimidating”: modeling the health insurance decision-making process
ISSN: 0022-0418
Article publication date: 4 April 2023
Issue publication date: 24 October 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This qualitative study explores how individuals understand health insurance concepts and make health insurance purchase decisions. The study sought to develop a model of the health insurance decision-making process.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used semi-structured interview questions and the micro-moment time-line interview technique with newly hired employees to discuss the steps that individuals follow when making health insurance decisions. The researcher used an open coding approach to analyze the steps listed by each participant, and emergent themes were used to code all interview transcripts in Atlas.ti.
Findings
This study identified information tactics used by individuals when evaluating health insurance documentation. The findings also shed light on the personal reflection individuals undertake when making their health insurance choices.
Practical implications
The information needs and preferred information sources identified in this study will be of interest to information professionals and human resources officers providing assistance with health insurance enrolment.
Originality/value
The findings demonstrating that participants characterized their health insurance choice as a shared decision is a novel contribution of this study.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project was funded by the Thomson Reuters/Medical Library Association Doctoral Fellowship and the Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. The funding was used to purchase research incentives for participants and to pay for audio transcription services.
Citation
Vardell, E. (2023), "“I think sometimes the whole process is just a little bit intimidating”: modeling the health insurance decision-making process", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 79 No. 6, pp. 1346-1368. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2022-0140
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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