business
Patient confidence in affording medical care improves
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 13, 2011
Consumers are feeling better about their ability to pay for health care as the recession loosens its grip.
The Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index, released May 31 by Thomson Reuters' Center for Healthcare Analytics, went up to 98 for May from 95 in April.
The index was launched in December 2009 with a baseline of 100 and is based on surveys of 3,000 households.
Much of the growth was driven by the retrospective part of the index that measures patients' capacity to pay for care within the past three months.
The retrospective index grew from 93 in April to 98 in May.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/06/13/bibf0613.htm.












