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Health-care quality and information failure : Evidence from Nigeria

Evans, David K. and Welander Tärneberg, Anna LU (2018) In Health Economics (United Kingdom) 27(3). p.90-93
Abstract

Low-quality health services are a problem across low- and middle-income countries. Information failure may contribute, as patients may have insufficient knowledge to discern the quality of health services. That decreases the likelihood that patients will sort into higher quality facilities, increasing demand for better health services. This paper presents results from a health survey in Nigeria to investigate whether patients can evaluate health service quality effectively. Specifically, this paper demonstrates that although more than 90% of patients agree with any positive statement about the quality of their local health services, satisfaction is significantly associated with the diagnostic ability of health workers at the facility.... (More)

Low-quality health services are a problem across low- and middle-income countries. Information failure may contribute, as patients may have insufficient knowledge to discern the quality of health services. That decreases the likelihood that patients will sort into higher quality facilities, increasing demand for better health services. This paper presents results from a health survey in Nigeria to investigate whether patients can evaluate health service quality effectively. Specifically, this paper demonstrates that although more than 90% of patients agree with any positive statement about the quality of their local health services, satisfaction is significantly associated with the diagnostic ability of health workers at the facility. Satisfaction is not associated with more superficial characteristics such as infrastructure quality or prescriptions of medicines. This suggests that patients may have sufficient information to discern some of the most important elements of quality, but that alternative measures are crucial for gauging the overall quality of care.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
health-care quality, information failure, measurement, patient satisfaction
in
Health Economics (United Kingdom)
volume
27
issue
3
pages
90 - 93
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • pmid:29063634
  • scopus:85045291366
ISSN
1057-9230
DOI
10.1002/hec.3611
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
04487826-7fa7-4346-8a57-6fc158b76b48
date added to LUP
2018-04-25 15:36:28
date last changed
2024-01-29 15:10:11
@article{04487826-7fa7-4346-8a57-6fc158b76b48,
  abstract     = {{<p>Low-quality health services are a problem across low- and middle-income countries. Information failure may contribute, as patients may have insufficient knowledge to discern the quality of health services. That decreases the likelihood that patients will sort into higher quality facilities, increasing demand for better health services. This paper presents results from a health survey in Nigeria to investigate whether patients can evaluate health service quality effectively. Specifically, this paper demonstrates that although more than 90% of patients agree with any positive statement about the quality of their local health services, satisfaction is significantly associated with the diagnostic ability of health workers at the facility. Satisfaction is not associated with more superficial characteristics such as infrastructure quality or prescriptions of medicines. This suggests that patients may have sufficient information to discern some of the most important elements of quality, but that alternative measures are crucial for gauging the overall quality of care.</p>}},
  author       = {{Evans, David K. and Welander Tärneberg, Anna}},
  issn         = {{1057-9230}},
  keywords     = {{health-care quality; information failure; measurement; patient satisfaction}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{90--93}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Health Economics (United Kingdom)}},
  title        = {{Health-care quality and information failure : Evidence from Nigeria}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hec.3611}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hec.3611}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}