THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL PERCEPTION ON THE INDIVIDUAL HEALTH CARE CONSUMER: A COMPARISON OF GERMANY AND UNITED STATES

*Carole A. South-Winter, Ed.D, Benjamin George, PhD and Ali Dag, PhD

ABSTRACT

The cultural impact of health care consumers provides a stark reality to the true difficulties in both the implementation and measurement for population health management initiatives. Two similar communities in two different countries, one with the oldest health care system in the world and one with the most radical and recent health care policy reformation, illustrates the impact that culture plays in the perception of health care by the individual consumer. These dimensions are investigated through the lens of the IHI Triple Aim framework. To empirically test our hypotheses, data is obtained from a survey instrument administered to the residents in both regions. Analysis of 454 usable responses show statistically significance differences and lead credence to the underlying cultural implications between the two populations. Inferences can be made about the impact of culture on the measurement of health care consumer’s perceptions and the implications this has upon the perception of any systemic initiative, from both a policy development and procedural implementation standpoint, and in turn exacerbate the acceptance or failure of an initiative at the consumer level across different regions or locations.

Keywords: Triple Aim, health care consumer, sickness funds, socialized health insurance, moral hazard.