Healthy Skepticism Library item: 20331

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Freemantle N
Are decisions taken by health care professionals rational? A non systematic review of experimental and quasi experimental literature.
Health Policy 1996; 38:(2):71-81
http://www.healthpolicyjrnl.com/article/0168-8510%2896%2900837-8/abstract

Abstract:

Systematic overviews of the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of health care interventions are increasingly available, and yet there has been relatively little attention upon putting their important findings into practice. Furthermore, close attention to the decision making behaviour of health professionals in situations of uncertainty indicates that this may not always be ‘rational’. This paper examines developments in the understanding of rationality in decision making from outside the health care setting, particularly the interesting work on ‘regret theory’, and begins to apply this framework to health care.

Keywords:
Cost-Benefit Analysis Decision Theory* Diagnosis* Great Britain Information Services Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care)/economics* Physician's Practice Patterns/economics Physician's Practice Patterns/standards*