Understanding Health Care Providers Experiences toward Discussing Costs
in the Clinical Areas
Abstract
Background: Health care providers spend most of their time with patients
talking about their physical and emotional status, yet the cost issues
is minimally discussed. Objectives: We sought to describe Jordanian
nurses and physicians experiences toward cost communication and explore
potential predictors for healthcare providers’ experiences toward cost
communication. Design: Descriptive correlational survey design. A
15-item questionnaire was used to measure healthcare providers’
experiences regarding the cost communication with patients, focusing on
out-of-pocket costs. After piloting, a total of 122 Jordanian nurse and
physician (N = 122) were participated in this study. Basic descriptive
and inferential statistics were applied. Results: Jordanian health care
providers have demonstrating a positive attitude toward communicating
cost issues with their patients. Most, about 68%, preferred to explain
the cost that patients have to pay. Also, the years of experiences
significantly predicted health care provider’s attitude in cost
discussion (β = 0.214, p<0.05) Conclusion: Findings support
the importance of discussing cost-related issues with patients.
Jordanian healthcare providers comfort with and desire to discuss
treatment-associated costs; however, some of them lack for quality
resources that could help them in cost discussions.