Table 1 Hospital characteristics (attributes) and levels, DCE
Attributes | Stratification | Description | Levels | Expected sign a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1) Patient experiences b | Level of satisfaction regarding the attention, explanation and time. | Below average, average and above average | + | |
2) Clinical outcome indicator | Breast cancer: tumor-positive resection margin | Share of resections for which the tumor resection margin was shown to be tumor-positive in the first surgery in breast saving therapy. | 5, 10 and 20% | – |
Cataract: per-operatively performed vitrectomy | Share of surgeries for which a vitrectomy was performed per-operatively due to a surgery-related complication. | 0.4, 0.8 and 1.7% | – | |
3) Waiting time | Waiting time between the referral and the first hospital appointment. | 5, 15 and 40 working days | – | |
4) Travel distance | Travel distance from the residential home to the hospital. | 3, 8 and 15 km | – | |
5) Recommendation | The person or persons who had recommended the given hospital. | Nobody in particular, friends and family, and GP | +/− |