2002 Annual Research Meeting
Health Services Research: From Knowledge to Action
June 23-25, 2002
Washington, DC
Effects of
Targeted Messages
on
Health Plan Choice
Michael Kirshner, DDS, MPH
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon
Academy of Health Services Research and Health Policy
June 23, 2002
2
Are Quality Report Cards
Important ?
z Consumers say they want
information about quality
z Consumer financial risk-sharing
Employer cost shifting
Defined contribution
z Purchaser evaluations
3
If Quality Report Cards Are
Important Why Arenít They
Used ?
z Do they measure the right stuff?
z Are they really for ‘someone like me?
z Is quality really *that* important?
z They are difficult to understand
4
How to Make Quality Report
Cards More Useful ?(1)
z Come from trusted reliable source
z Provide relevant information
z Able to understand the information
z Evaluate and apply in decision-
making
(1) Wicks and Meyers 1999 Health Affairs 18:2
5
Solution
Strategy
z Make quality
report cards
more meaningful
Combine targeted
messages with
generic quality
report cards
z Motivate
consumers to
attend to and
elaborate on
quality measures
6
Why Targeted Messages ?
z Can influence behavior change
z Effective in persuasive
communication
z Influence use of information in
judgment and decision making
7
Targeted Message
z Focused on health state
z Presentation format
Narrative
Statistical
8
Research Questions
z Do targeted messages increase the
use of Quality Indicator Ratings in
decision-making?
z Do targeted messages influence plan
choice?
z Does the presentation style of
targeted messages affect their
influence?
9
Assumptions
Salience of
QI
Comprehension
of QI
Importance
of QI
Use of QI
in DM
HP
Choice
Targeted
Message
QI: Quality Information
DM: Decision Making
HP: Health Plan
10
Methods
z Design
Quasi-randomized control group experiment
Control, Experimental (narrative and
statistical)
z Sampling
230 self-selected, role-playing undergraduate
college stude