All respondents but one in the pneumonia vignette group replied to Question A that they would consult a doctor.
The classification of case vignettes into a clear-case vignette group and an ambiguous one was consistent with actual practice with sometimes vague presentations of disease pictures and diagnostic uncertainty.
More than 90% of respondents for each vignette said they had little or no knowledge of the treatment options, and there was no statistically significant difference between the three vignettes as regards expressed desire for information, except as regards the wish to be given the name of a famous specialist in the disease area concerned, which was significantly higher in the cancer vignette group.
Stratified by vignette group, of the 41 hypothetical patients assigned a sex: 10 patients were female and 14 patients were male for AD; 10 patients were female and three patients were male for non-AD dementias; and three patients were female while one patient was male in vignettes for other conditions.
Candidates were then asked to respond to the following question: "Should the doctor lose his license and, hence, ability to practice medicine?" In the development of the vignettes, a group of experts from the medical school identified several main topics and related categories.
(free text) A range of qualitative methods were adopted and integrated, including unstructured interviews, structured interviews with vignettes, focus groups, interactive discussions, and collaboration and feedback from service-user mother and baby groups.
Also, the vignettes are grouped into the smallest number of DRGs (three).
As a result, four of the case vignettes are grouped to the same DRG but three different reimbursement levels are paid.
In England and Austria, all three vignettes are grouped into the same DRG, indicating that when a valve procedure is performed, the occurrence of catheterisation or comorbidities does not impact on DRG.
The use of a case vignette and group discussions gave detailed and varied accounts of the help-seeking process.
