Health Sector Modelling

In the health and social sectors, choice modelling helps policymakers understand people's choices. We have developed discrete choice and stated-preference models to examine:

  • the effects of patients having a choice of hospital
  • how physicians respond to a choice of treatment
  • career preferences for COPD treatment, and
  • the impact of promotions on alcohol purchasing.

Discrete choice models can explain how different stakeholders may respond to policy interventions to inform policy design.

Featured Research

Selected Research

  • wine shopping

    Consumers' Responsiveness to Alcohol Multi-buy Sales Promotions

    22 Jul 2013

    Multi-buy promotions have a large impact on which alcohol products consumers purchase, according to stated-preference research by RAND Europe for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The overall impact on all alcohol purchasing is somewhat smaller, though still substantial: Moderate drinkers are more likely to be swayed by these promotions, but because hazardous and harmful drinkers purchase much higher volumes of alcohol, the absolute impact on these groups is higher.

  • hospital, senior, man, couple, bed, patient, talking, chatting, visit, visiting, serious, concerned, worried, Husband, Wife, Ward, Recovering, 70s, Seventies, Senior Adult, Grey Hair, Senior Care, Couple, Bed, Caring, Caucasian, Color, Colour, Image, Healthcare, Hospital, Indoors, Inside, Looking At Each Other, Man, Sick, Standing, Togetherness, Two People, Unwell, Woman, Anxious, Looking At The Camera, Horizontal

    Does Patient Choice Influence Healthcare Services Quality?

    07 Mar 2011

    The policy of offering patients a choice in where they receive hospital treatment was intended to create competition among providers and to improve quality of care, but it has not succeeded. Patients say they value aspects of quality when choosing a hospital, but few actually consult published performance information and instead opt to be treated by their local provider. Moreover, the 'threat' of patient choice has led few hospitals to try to improve their reputation.

  • How Do the Public Value Different Outcomes of Social Care?

    10 Jun 2010

    Social care is an increasing important public service, but little is known about its impact and how effective or efficient different care interventions are. To help remedy this situation, RAND Europe has undertaken research for the Office of National Statistics and the Personal Social Services Research Unit that quantifies the value placed on different aspects of social care related quality of life. This research forms part of the new Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT), which provides a tool for commissioners, service providers and regulators to quantify the outcomes of care interventions and help prioritise expenditure in areas which offer the greatest return to service users.

  • doctor listening

    Evaluation of the London Patient Choice Project

    01 Jul 2005

    The London Patient Choice Project (LPCP) was established to offer choices to patients who were clinically eligible for treatment and had been waiting for treatment at an NHS London hospital beyond a target waiting time. This report covers the choice process and the trade-offs patients are willing to make in order to obtain earlier treatment.