Patient preferences should be the most important part of healthcare decision making. However, third parties often make decisions for patients. Doctors make decisions for patients because of asymmetric information (i.e., doctors are experts; patients usually are not). Payers make decisions for patients since, in most developed countries, third-party payments cover most of the cost. Additionally, in some cases caregivers can also make decisions. Thus, while in most markets the consumer makes the decision and purchases based on their own preferences, in the healthcare sector patient preferences are not always fundamental to the decision-making process.
He IMI PREFERENCE Initiative The goal is to provide guidance on how patient preferences can be incorporated into decision making. Their nearly 300-page report has a variety of recommendations to incorporate patient preferences. Here are some key takeaways:
When to incorporate patient preferences?
Are there cases in which patient preferences are less likely to be useful?
Yes, if the relevant endpoints and trade-offs are well known and there are few uncertainties, then the value of conducting a patient preference survey might be lower.
What are the steps necessary to conduct a patient preference study?
The PREFER approach is based on Overbeeke et al. 2019 and describe the steps/phases as shown below.
What is preference exploration and what methodologies are available to carry it out?
In-depth exploration of the patient’s perspective regarding their illness, treatments and
The importance of outcomes or attributes is often done using qualitative methods. These qualitative methods are usually best suited for the early phases of the medical product life cycle. Relevant methods include:
How can I quantify these preferences?
The PREFER methodology lists different types of methods of Soekhai et al. (2019). The performance matrix to evaluate these quantitative collection methods was adapted from Whichello et al., 2020.
There is much more excellent information in the recommendations report. here.
