Value of Care: An Exploratory Qualitative Study with Doctors and Patients

Abstract

The concept of value in healthcare is mainly based on economic and financial aspects. However, the literature has emphasised the need to investigate value from other perspectives. The present study aimed to explore the views of physicians and patients on the value of healthcare, and to examine in depth the psychosocial and organisational elements that have emerged but that need to be investigated more. Therefore, two qualitative studies were performed, in which 69 physicians and 111 patients participated. The data were analysed using content analysis and text mining using t-lab software. The results revealed common elements between the two healthcare actors that constitute value in healthcare, including competence, professionalism, and soft skills like communication and empathy. Furthermore, the importance of functioning health services and effective organisational culture in local healthcare and investment emerged. These findings can guide healthcare organisations to consider the potential psychosocial factors related to value in healthcare, which affect organisation in terms of costs and healthcare relationships. In addition, these findings are a first step in filling the gap found in the literature regarding the consideration of value from a non-economic perspective and the difficulty of defining and measuring it.

Psychosocial factors contributing to value creation in value-based healthcare: a scoping review

“…This may include access to mental health professionals, social workers, counselors, or support groups to address patients’ emotional and social needs. Psychosocial Assessments ( Marino and Capone, 2023 ): Comprehensive assessments of patients’ psychosocial well-being could be integrated into the care process. This may involve evaluating traditional factors such as socioeconomic status, cultural background, and implementing a tool to measure psychosocial dimensions of value in health related to patients and physicians.…”

“…This may include access to mental health professionals, social workers, counselors, or support groups to address patients' emotional and social needs. • Psychosocial Assessments (Marino and Capone, 2023):…”

“…The literature ( Virlée et al, 2020 ) highlights the importance of going beyond purely economic measures and considering the relational, psychological and social aspects of care. Such an approach can potentially improve patient outcomes, the well-being of healthcare workers and organizational culture ( Capone, 2022 ; Marino and Capone, 2023 ). In summary, despite the increasing adoption of VBHC ( Gunawan et al, 2022 ), defining, measuring and understanding the value of healthcare is a challenging task that requires the inclusion of psychosocial dimensions and consideration of the common matrix of social and economic issues ( Osei-Frimpong, 2016 ).…”