Making healthcare decisions is influenced by various personas – seen and unseen. While doctors and patients make these decisions seemingly together – their decisions are limited by regulatory bodies, healthcare practice guidelines, costs and access to information.

An example of how these shared decisions are made can be found in the urology care markets.  While patients discuss their treatments and care decisions with doctors, doctors are influenced by the published guidelines of the NCCN, any trade associations they may be a part of (ie. AUA, urologyhealth.org) as well as their medical practice.

Similarly, patients are influenced by their doctors (who as we’ve just identified are influenced by several other factors) as well as their family and patient support groups. Family members often get involved in pushing for their loved ones to seek care while support groups can be a good source of information on how to address worries, preparing for exams and how to deal with diagnoses conversations.

These healthcare decisions made by the patient and his doctor are not made without further influence from the payors and the regulatory bodies.  Payors are nested within the regulatory environment and do not support reimbursement for treatments that are not FDA or CLIA approved.

Below is a graphic that seeks to illustrate the sphere of influence among the various stakeholders and how they ultimately guide the healthcare decision making of patients.