Consulting online health resources to co-create value: A typology of patient decision making styles

Abstract

Research shows online health information has a considerable effect on patient decision making, a critical issue because of its consequences ranging from individual health outcomes to national health care costs. This research is the first to systematically investigate and measure distinct patient decision making styles that involve practitioners and are associated with online health information. The authors identify and test three patient decision making styles: (1) cooperative, (2) oppositional and (3) autonomous, developed using qualitative methods (focus groups and in-depth interviews) and a large quantitative survey (N = 996) conducted in the UK, NZ, and US. The research discovers and profiles a typology of four patient types: Cooperators, Autonomous-Cooperators, Oppositional-Cooperators, and the Unaffected. In so doing, the study contributes to knowledge pertaining to how patients create and cocreate value. The research also provides empirical insights into the role of consumer cocreation in the health care domain, and despite the rhetoric around patient empowerment, shows not all patients are willing partners in health care service. From a managerial perspective, the typology presents a practice-relevant framework for differentiating addressable patient groups, and provides a sound base for designing more effective health care offerings for today’s internet-informed patients.