How Do Informed Consumers Consume Healthcare? Evidence From Medicare

Patients are generally far less knowledgeable about medical conditions, services, and treatment options than their healthcare providers. This project considers how that information asymmetry influences care by comparing the healthcare used by Medicare patients who formerly worked as medical professionals (doctors and nurses) to the healthcare used by socioeconomically similar Medicare patients who did not work in medical professions (lawyers). We will consider differences in the use of many specific healthcare services, such as emergency visits, hospital care, chemotherapy, drug adherence, palliative care, diagnostic testing, and opioid use. We will also compare other aspects of care, such as provider choice (e.g., hospital quality, specialist use, travel time), and Medicare Advantage and Part D plan choice. The study will be the most comprehensive assessment to date of the role of patient expertise, or lack thereof, in healthcare decision making in the United States.