Researchers at University of Nevada Reno Report New Data on Medical Ethics (US direct-to-consumer medical service advertisements fail to provide adequate information on quality and cost of care)

2020 NOV 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Economics Daily Report -- Current study results on Ethics - Medical Ethics have been published. According to news originating from Reno, Nevada, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “In the 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission declared that allowing medical providers to advertise directly to consumers would be ‘providing the public with truthful information about the price, quality or other aspects of their service.’ However, our understanding of the advertising content is highly limited. To assess whether direct-to-consumer medical service advertisements provide relevant information on access, quality and cost of care, a content analysis was conducted.”

Financial support for this research came from US National Science Foundation.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Nevada Reno, “Television and online advertisements for medical services directly targeting consumers were collected in two major urban centres in Nevada, USA, identifying 313 television advertisements and 200 non-duplicate online advertisements. Both television and online advertisements reliably conveyed information about the services provided and how to make an appointment. At the same time, less than half of the advertisements featured insurance information and hours of operation and less than a quarter of them contained information regarding the quality and price of care. The claims of quality were substantiated in even fewer advertisements. The scarcity of quality and cost information was more severe in television advertisements.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “There is little evidence that medical service advertising, in its current form, would contribute to lower prices or improved quality of care by providing valuable information to consumers.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: US direct-to-consumer medical service advertisements fail to provide adequate information on quality and cost of care. Journal of Medical Ethics, 2020. Journal of Medical Ethics can be contacted at: B M J Publishing Group, British Med Assoc House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JR, England. (BMJ Publishing Group - http://group.bmj.com/; Journal of Medical Ethics - http://jme.bmj.com/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Sung-Yeon Park, School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada, United States. Additional authors for this research include Gi Woong Yun, Sarah Friedman, Kylie Hill, So Young Ryu, Thomas L. Schwenk and Max J. Coppes.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-106458. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

The publisher’s contact information for the Journal of Medical Ethics is: B M J Publishing Group, British Med Assoc House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JR, England.

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