AGENCY IN HEALTH-CARE - EXAMINING PATIENTS PREFERENCES FOR ATTRIBUTESOF THE DOCTOR-PATIENT-RELATIONSHIP

Recently, some health economists have re-examined the nature of the ag ency relationship in health care. This paper presents a study conducte d to establish the relative value to patients of various attributes of the general practice consultation. In the sample of patients recruite d, the most important attribute was 'being able to talk to the doctor' , whilst 'who chooses your treatment' was the least important. Althoug h patients preferred more information to less, only females and highly qualified respondents preferred to choose the treatment themselves. T he results of this study have implications for the education of doctor s in communication skills and for further research into the agency rel ationship in health care. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.