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. 2011 May;6(4):27-31.

Is patient-centred care associated with lower diagnostic costs?

Moira Stewart  1 , Bridget L Ryan, Christina Bodea
Affiliations

Is patient-centred care associated with lower diagnostic costs?

Moira Stewart et al. Healthc Policy. 2011 May.

Abstract
in English, French

A recent report of the Health Council of Canada implies that patient-centred care is related to higher costs. This paper draws the opposite conclusion. A study of 311 family practice patients revealed that the costs for diagnostic tests decreased over four quartiles of patient-centred scores; the more patient-centred the visit, the less the cost for diagnostic testing in the two-month follow-up period. Projecting to the Canadian population, if all family physicians were patient-centred at the level of the highest quartile, one-third of these diagnostic costs would be saved. The paper makes four recommendations and concludes that patient-centred care has a role to play in delivering not only effective but also efficient healthcare services.

Un rapport récent du Conseil canadien de la santé laisse entendre que les soins axés sur les patients sont liés à des coûts plus élevés. Le présent article tire des conclusions contraires. Une étude portant sur 311 patients en cliniques familiales indique que les coûts pour les tests de diagnostic ont diminué pour quatre quartiles des résultats; plus la consultation est axée sur le patient, moins les coûts pour les tests de diagnostic sont élevés pendant les deux mois suivants. En extrapolant ces chiffres à la population du Canada, on observe que si la pratique de tous les médecins de famille était axée sur les patients au niveau du plus haut quartile, un tiers des coûts de diagnostic seraient épargnés. L'article formule quatre recommandations et conclut que les soins axés sur les patients jouent un rôle dans la prestation de services de santé non seulement efficaces mais aussi efficients.

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