A seeming paradox in Morocco is the underemployment of private General Practitioners (GPs) in the face of continuing health needs of the population. The losses due to underemployment of GPs not only impact the individual physicians but also constitute a loss to society as the Government of Morocco heavily subsidizes medical education.
Several explanations have been advanced to account for this phenomenon. One of the more plausible is based on the competition GPs face from other actors in the health sector: the public sector, pharmacies, other private GPs, and private specialty Physicians. With consumer perceptions of quality (and price) increasing as one goes from public sector to private specialty Physicians, patterns of treatment seeking behavior appear to disfavor private GPs. Often the first course of action is to visit the pharmacist. If no cure is obtained after the pharmacist, often the patient will go directly to the specialist. An alternative pattern is that many ill people will self-refer to a specialist. As a result, GPs, which make up approximately half of all doctors in Morocco, are frequently left out of the market.
Using data from a survey of 1600 households completed in December 2000, the extent of bypassing of private GPs will be assessed and explanations for the underemployment of private GPs examined. A multi-nomial source choice model will be estimated to determine the role price and perceived quality play on the care-seeking decision. Implications of these findings for health policy for the private sector in Morocco will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: 1. Assess extent of, and reasons for, bypassing of private General Practitioners in Morocco 2. Assess quantitatively the role of price and quality in determining source choice in Morocco 3. Apply the research findings to enable better health policy for the private sector
Keywords: Treatment Patterns, Policy/Policy Development
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Work was performed on a USAID project (Commercial Market Strategies) on which I am employed as the Research Director.
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.