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Table 2 Perceived Responsibility for Reducing Healthcare Costs among U.S. Practicing Physicians and Medical Studentsa

From: Attitudes toward cost-conscious care among U.S. physicians and medical students: analysis of national cross-sectional survey data by age and stage of training

Entities with potential responsibility to reduce costs of health care

Major responsibility, n (%)b

Practicing physicians (n = 2556)

Medical students (n = 3395)

Age > 60 years

(n = 411)

Age 51–60 years

(n = 962)

Age 41–50 years

(n = 833)

Age 30–40 years

(n = 350)

p-value

All yearse

(n = 3395)

p-value

Unadjustedc

Adjusted for sexd

Unadjustedc

Adjusted for sexd

Health insurance companies

224/385 (58)

494/920 (54)

499/804 (62)

222/337 (66)

< 0.001

< 0.001

2166/2933 (74)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Hospitals and health systems

226/383 (59)

528/917 (58)

437/803 (54)

182/336 (54)

0.32

0.44

2297/2930 (78)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Pharmaceutical and device manufacturers

217/385 (56)

506/921 (55)

458/803 (57)

196/336 (58)

0.70

0.003

1971/2932 (67)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Government

186/382 (49)

400/919 (44)

333/803 (41)

154/336 (46)

0.11

0.14

1886/2932 (64)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Physician professional societies

119/381 (31)

256/917 (28)

207/801 (26)

85/334 (25)

0.21

0.28

1218/2933 (42)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Employers

81/380 (21)

177/917 (19)

143/798 (18)

56/334 (17)

0.39

0.45

860/2925 (29)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Trial lawyers

220/383 (57)

557/914 (61)

486/803 (61)

187/333 (56)

0.34

0.50

954/2918 (33)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Patients

203/381 (53)

477/920 (52)

413/803 (51)

172/335 (51)

0.94

0.03

706/2929 (24)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Individual practicing physicians

153/379 (40)

359/919 (39)

257/804 (32)

120/336 (36)

0.007

< 0.001

1171/2933 (40)

0.001

< 0.001

  1. aPhysicians (surveyed in mid-2012) and medical students (surveyed in early 2015) and were asked to rate the degree of responsibility (if any) each entity should have in reducing healthcare costs using a three-point scale (1 = no responsibility, 2 = some responsibility, 3 = major responsibility)
  2. bPercentages not all based on a denominator of 350 (for physicians age 30–40 years), 833 (for physicians age 41–50 years), 962 (for physicians age 51–60 years), 411 (for physicians age > 60 years), or 3395 (for students) because of missing responses to some survey items
  3. cPearson Chi square test; p-values < 0.001 considered statistically significant
  4. dMultivariate logistic regression controlling for sex; p-values < 0.001 considered statistically significant
  5. eMost medical students were age 30 or younger (2657/2958, 90%)