Analysis of the dependence of the balance sheet values of costs, quality and comfort of medical services on the individualized elasticity of patient demand

Abstract

Annotation. Various types of co-payments are being actively implemented in the Ukrainian healthcare system. These changes determine the relevance of the study, which aims to investigate the support of quality and comfort of medical services, in particular through the introduction of co-payments. A combined study was conducted of the main array of gynaecological inpatient services in Vinnytsia. The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis of simultaneous changes in the balance values of costs, quality and comfort of healthcare services, in particular as a result of changes in the elasticity of demand for these attributes. A decrease in the individualised elasticity of demand for price, quality and comfort due to the patient's lack of awareness of costs, quality and comfort leads to a decrease in the corresponding balance values of costs, quality and comfort. 150 medical records of inpatients of gynaecological departments with the main diagnoses of uterine cysts and/or fibroids in three medical diagnostic institutions in Vinnytsia were analysed in the course of the study. The study empirically verified a theoretical model (D. Dranov and M. Satterthwaite) based on the behaviour of a provider who tries to maximise profits within certain limits (set by demand) by manipulating three important attributes: price, quality of service and comfort. It has been established that the balance sheet values of the costs of medical services are significantly higher with better awareness of patients, i.e. higher with an increase in the individual elasticity of demand for a price. Higher book values of expenditures on healthcare services are associated with a higher quality of healthcare services, which, according to the factor loadings, correlates with higher complexity of services. At higher balance values of healthcare costs, the comfort of healthcare services is significantly higher, with discomfort correlating with more complex pathology and the need for higher complexity and volume of services.