Final answer:
Patients often choose familiar hospitals over unfamiliar, higher-quality ones due to the comfort and established relationships with healthcare providers. The healthcare market can influence these decisions, as providers may prefer to operate in more profitable areas, affecting access for poorer populations.
Step-by-step explanation:
When patients have a choice between a familiar hospital they have used for many years and an unfamiliar one that is rated much higher in quality, they often choose the familiar option. This preference can be partially explained by the desire for a reliable and known experience, which may outweigh the potential benefits of a higher quality but unfamiliar facility. Additionally, the established relationship with the healthcare providers at the known hospital may contribute to the tendency to prefer familiarity over quality.
It's also important to consider how markets function in the healthcare industry. In a fee-for-service health financing system, healthcare providers are reimbursed based on the services they provide, potentially leading to a focus on profitability rather than patient care. Conversely, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) reimburse providers based on the number of patients, not the cost of services, encouraging a more equitable distribution of health resources.
Poor areas often have fewer healthcare options due to the fact that providers and hospitals tend to locate in areas where patients have better insurance and higher profits can be achieved. Consequently, those with fewer resources might defer seeking medical help until it is absolutely necessary, often leading to more expensive emergency room visits—a cost that ultimately affects both the uninsured and insured populations.