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Table 4 Perceived Responsibility for Reducing Healthcare Costs among U.S. Practicing Physicians (Age 30–40) 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

Medical students

p-value

Age 30–40 years (n = 350)

All yearsc

(n = 3395)

Unadjustedd

Adjusted for sexe

Health insurance companies

222/337 (66)

2166/2933 (74)

0.002

0.001

Hospitals and health systems

182/336 (54)

2297/2930 (78)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Pharmaceutical and device manufacturers

196/336 (58)

1971/2932 (67)

0.001

< 0.001

Government

154/336 (46)

1886/2932 (64)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Physician professional societies

85/334 (25)

1218/2933 (42)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Employers

56/334 (17)

860/2925 (29)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Trial lawyers

187/333 (56)

954/2918 (33)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Patients

172/335 (51)

706/2929 (24)

< 0.001

< 0.001

Individual practicing physicians

120/336 (36)

1171/2933 (40)

0.13

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) or 3395 (for students) because of missing responses to some survey items
  3. cMost medical students were age 30 or younger (2657/2958, 90%)
  4. cPearson Chi square test; p-values < 0.001 considered statistically significant
  5. dMultivariate logistic regression controlling for sex; p-values < 0.001 considered statistically significant