RAND Report: Consumer Use of Information When Making Treatment Decisions


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Focus: To demonstrate how better knowledge of treatment decision support tools can lead to better, more affordable care for consumers.

Study Design:

  • A survey of consumers regarding their use of health information.
  • An economic assessment of the cost savings in eliminating own utilization of specific treatments.

Results: Treatment decision tools can be effective in improving medical treatment. Consumers who use these tools are:

  • more informed about their condition
  • less conflicted over their treatment options
  • have more realistic expectations about their care
  • less likely to have certain types of elective surgery
  • more likely to receive medical screenings and other preventive treatment

Consumers want some say in their own medical care and are very interested in health
information when they face important treatment decisions. Consequently, the demand
for treatment decision tools is potentially quite high.

  • Consumers are very interested in health information and generally satisfied
    with what they find.
  • Those seeking health information are higher healthcare utilizers and therefore
    more likely to benefit from treatment decision support.
  • The type of specific information consumers seek and the method by which
    they seek it are conducive to decision-making tools.
  • There is a strong belief among consumers that this information can be of value
    to them.

There are a number of opportunities to leverage treatment decision tools to improve the quality and affordability of care such as:

  • underuse of effective treatments such as medical therapies after heart attacks (e.g., beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and statins)
  • overuse of unnecessary invasive treatments such as hysterectomies for uterine fibroids and abnormal bleeding
  • unnecessary use of costly medication such as Cox-2 inhibitors for many
    arthritis patients

Full Study:
RAND Report: Consumer Use of Information When Making Treatment Decisions (PDF format, 149 KB)