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The sphere of influence that guides healthcare decision making
Generally speaking, there are 5 stakeholders that are involved in directly and indirectly guiding healthcare decisions. These include the patient, doctors and medical groups, clinical practice setting bodies, insurance companies and the regulatory bodies.
Patients
Patients make decisions in consultation with their doctors. But are influenced by their loved ones to seek more information and sometimes are encouraged to seek medical advice in the first place. Patients and their support groups play a strong role in healthcare decision making.
Doctors & Medical Groups
Doctors directly make and strongly influence medical decisions for their patients. However, medical groups often act in concert to provide improved patient outcomes and share learnings across the practice.
Clinical Practice Setting Bodies
Large clinical practice setting bodies such as the National Comprehensive Cancer Network serve to provide collective best practices among (for example) urologists as they seek to screen prostate cancer. These bodies strongly influence healthcare decisions.
Insurance Companies (Payors)
Insurance companies are another strong influence in the healthcare decision making process. If patients are unable to afford medication, procedures or medical devices because they are not covered or don’t offer great coverage – patents may not seek the medical solution they need.
Regulatory Bodies
Regulatory bodies set standards for how drugs and medical devices should behave and what should happen when it performs outside expectations. Regulatory bodies influence both payors and doctors in their decision making process.
By: Kiran Chin
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