Too Many Choices in Healthcare?

I recently finished reading The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, by Barry Schwartz. The main point of the book is that people don’t necessarily like making decisions, and the ever-increasing array of options for so many of the choices in our lives has the potential to make everyone miserable.

He cites several studies of decision making in healthcare as he progresses through the book. One example included a study that presented doctors with the case history of a man with osteoarthritis. Doctors were given the choice to prescribe a new medication or refer to a specialist – 75% of the doctors prescribed the medication. In a simple twist, another group of doctors were given the same case history and two potential new medications. Now only 50% of the doctors prescribed a medication; the other half were willing to avoid making the decision and simply refer to a specialist.

Other examples relate to cancer patients. When people are asked by researchers if they would like to choose the method of cancer treatment they would receive if they (hypothetically) developed cancer, the vast majority say they would. Actual cancer patients, however, want no such thing – they don’t want the responsibility of making that sort of decision.

While the book wasn’t written to apply to health communication research, the implications are (at least to me) interesting. The Paradox of Choice is a pretty quick and easy read, and it is the kind of book that has the potential to get you thinking about the topics you’re personally interested in from a different point of view.