Valfrihet inom den svenska hälso- och sjukvården
En studie av patienters beslutsfattande
Freedom of choiceDecision making processSwedish healthcare systemFreedom of choice systemPatients' decisions
Citizens? freedom of choice has been a subject of debate in Sweden for over 30 years. This study focuses on decision making processes among patients within the Swedish healthcare system. The main conclusions are that in contrast to how patients? freedom of choice is described within governmental bills and governmental inquires and reports, patients are not following the steps included in the rational model of decision making. The patients? decision making processes are more irrational than rational and they typically lead to actions rather than to choices. Still though, there is a possibility to attain the intentions of quality improvements and cost efficiency that lies behind the freedom of choicesystems that are now implemented into the Swedish healthcare system. Because even though patients do not make rational decisions, they still tend to changefrom caretakers who they are not satisfied with. The idea that patients have the ability to make rational decisions, as long as the conditions are right, could also be of great value as a breeding ground for improvements in the system.