Physicians and Students Take to the Streets to Ask: What Do People Want From Their Health Care?

Abstract

With the aim of better understanding what the public (as opposed to "patients") wants from health care, this study asked people on the street, "What does the right health care mean to you?" Responses ranged from "Caring about me more than just in the appointment" to "That everyone should see exactly what medical treatment costs." A qualitative analysis revealed that all responses fell into 2 overarching categories: health care at the interpersonal level and health care at the system level. Approximately 66.7% of responses included system-level factors, whereas 59% of responses included interpersonal-level factors. We conclude that the public is cognizant of and concerned about issues that also concern patients and others working to improve health care and, thus, should be engaged in the process to design care in a way that meets their needs and preferences before they become ill or interact with the delivery system.