Researchers surveyed 21,754 patients admitted to the University of Chicago Medical Center between July 1, 2003 and Aug. 31, 2011, and compared patients’ preferences for participation in medical decisions against administrative data on their lengths of stay and overall costs incurred.
While 71.1 percent of patients preferred to leave medical decisions to their physicians, those who expressed a desire to be involved had hospital stays that averaged 0.26 days longer, and medical bills $865 higher, than those who did not.
The authors note that although a probable link exists between patient participation in healthcare decisions and increased costs and longer hospital stays, patient participation has also been linked with higher patient satisfaction.
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