Patient perceptions:

• Hospitals, doctors, and health insurance are the lowest values of commonly purchased goods and services
• Patients say the inconvenience of healthcare delivery robs them of their good health and limited free time. This upsets them almost as much as its inefficiency.
• Even the insured cannot afford all the care they need.
• You can't sue your HMO even when refusal to treat according to your physician's recommendation leads to disability and death.
• Data about prices, cost, quality, availability is stunningly absent.
• System expenses exceed a trillion dollars.
• The cost of a single episode of care remains unknown.
• In contrast, patients have great respect for medical research, drugs, devices, and technology.

References

• Herzlinger, Regina. Market Driven Health Care: Who Wins Who Loses in the Transformation of America's Largest Service Industry. Addison-Wesley, 1997.
• Hoke, Doug. The New Untouchables: You can't sue your HMO. USA Today, 19-21 June 1998.