An Analysis of the Relative Importance of “Fixed Amount out-of-Pocket Payment” When Deciding to Visit an Outpatient

Abstract

Sinceitsintroduction,fixedamountout-of-pocketpayment,whosemainpurpose istooptimizemildoutpatientsinlargehospitalsandtosharefunctionswithprimary caredoctors,hasgraduallyexpandeditsscopeofapplication.Fromthepointofview ofthepurposeofthesystem,thefixedamountofout-of-pocketpaymentmustbeata levelsufficienttosuppresstheincentivetovisitalargehospital,butontheother hand,itmustnotgreatlyhindernecessaryconsultationssuchasinseverecases. Howtoacceptthefixedamountout-of-pocketpaymentmightbedifferentfor eachindividual,andhowimportantfixedamountout-of-pocketpaymentincomparison withvariousotherconditionshasnotinvestigated.Weexaminedwhatfactorsand attributesaffecttherelativeimportanceusingconjointanalysisbasedonthedata collectedfromthewebsurvey. Asaresult,itwassuggestedthattheimportanceofthefixedamountofout-of-pocketpaymentwhendecidingtoseeadoctoris（1）thereisagenderdifference,（2） therelativeimportanceoftheelderlyislow,and（3）therelativeimportance increasesinthegroupwithlowannualhouseholdincome.