What Do Patients Want from Otolaryngologists? A Discrete Choice Experiment:

ObjectivesPatient preferences are crucial for the delivery of patient-centered care. Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are an emerging quantitative methodology used for understanding these preferences. In this study, we employed DCE techniques to understand the preferences of patients presenting for an ear, nose, and throat clinic visit.Study DesignDCE.SettingDecision science laboratory.MethodsA DCE survey of 5 attributes—wait time, physician experience, physician personality, utilization of visit time, and cost/copayment—was constructed with structured qualitative interviews with patients. The DCE was administered to participants from the general population, who chose among hypothetical scenarios that varied across these attributes. A conditional logit model was used to determine relative attribute importance, with a separate logit model for determining subject effects.ResultsA total of 161 participants were included. Cost/copayment had the greatest impact on decision making (importance, 32.2%), followe...