Discrete choice experiment reveals provider distance and cost drive private healthcare selection in adults, indicating practical accessibility outweighs reputation.
Key Points
To identify and evaluate the key service attributes that influence patient stated choices for private healthcare services within a mixed public-private healthcare system.
Conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) preceded by best-worst scaling (BWS) in a quota-representative survey of adults in Hungary (n = 1,014).
Assessed five service attributes across eight choice tasks: cost, provider distance, appointment availability, provider reputation, and clinic type, with an opt-out choice to remain in public healthcare.
Estimated relative attribute importance and willingness-to-pay using a conditional logit (CL) model specification.
Provider distance was the most important attribute influencing private healthcare choice (relative importance: 40.01%), followed by out-of-pocket cost (32.31%).
Appointment availability accounted for 19.13% of choice decisions, whereas institutional reputation and provider type exhibited minor influence.