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21 JAN 2022 (NewsRx) — From a News Reporter Associate News Editor at Daily Veterinary News — New research into veterinary medicine is the subject of a report. According to news reports by NewsRx journalists from Frederiksberg, Denmark, the research found: “Health insurance offers many benefits to customers and veterinarians, such as based on financial challenges. However, concerns have also been raised about negative consequences, such as overuse of diagnostic tests or overtreatment.”
The news correspondents received a quote from the University of Copenhagen research: “Using an emailed online questionnaire that included a section on health insurance, we studied the relative number of insured dogs and cats being cared for by Austrian, Danish and veterinarians in the United Kingdom Kingdom (N = 636) and these veterinarians’ attitudes towards health insurance. In addition, we used a case vignette to examine whether the assumption of costs by the health insurance company can influence treatment proposals. Although veterinarians in all three countries believe that health insurance reduces stress because clients’ financial resources are less important, we found that Austrian vets are more likely to agree that health insurance is unnecessary compared to Danish and UK vets. In addition, many expressed concerns that insurance policies influence clinical decisions; and less than half supported the idea of making insurance compulsory. A majority of veterinarians in Austria and the UK thought that insurance can lead to overuse of diagnostic tests and in the UK a majority also thought that this could lead to overtreatment. Using case vignettes, we found that veterinarians were significantly more likely to suggest a CT scan to a client with an insured animal, as opposed to a client with stated financial limitations. Also, UK veterinarians were more likely to recommend a CT scan to a client with an insured animal than to a client without insurance. In summary, we found that veterinarians are generally in favor of health insurance and that greater coverage can increase the cost of veterinary care.”
According to the news reporters, the research concluded, “Our findings also raise a potential ethical challenge for health insurance, causing differential access to clinical care for patients.”
This research has been peer reviewed.
For more information on this study see: Comparing veterinarians’ attitudes towards and the potential impact of pet health insurance in Austria, Denmark and the UK. Veterinary Record, 2022. Veterinary Record can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (BMJ Publishing Group – http://group.bmj.com/; Veterinary Record – http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/)
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Our news journalists report that you can get additional information by contacting Thomas Böker Lund, Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark. Other authors of this research are Svenja Springer, Herwig Grimm, Annemarie T. Kristensen, Sandra A. Corr and Peter Sandoe.
Contact information for the publisher of the Veterinary Record journal is: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA.
(Our reports provide fact-based news about research and discoveries from around the world.)
