Adolescent and Young Adult Perspectives on Quality and Value in Health Care

Objective: To describe adolescent and young adult (AYA) perspectives on defining quality and value in health care and to gain understanding of their knowledge of value-based payment. Methods: A text message-based survey was sent to a convenience sample of AYAs aged 14 to 24 in 2019. Participants were asked 4 open-ended questions: 1) how they would define “good health care,” 2) what factors to consider in rating doctors, 3) whose opinions should matter most when rating doctors, and 4) the best ways to collect AYA opinions on doctors, and one yes/no question on their awareness of value-based payment. Analyses included descriptive demographic statistics and an inductive thematic approach with multivariable models comparing adolescent (14–18) and young adult (19–24) responses. Results: Response rate was 61.0% (782/1283). Most participants were White (63.3%), female (53.3%), and adolescents (55.6%). Common themes from the first 2 questions included accessibility (specifically affordability), coverage benefits, and care experience (including compassion, respect, and clinical competence). Young adults more commonly mentioned affordability than adolescents (54.4% vs 43.3%, P =.001) and more commonly felt their opinion should matter more than their parents when rating doctors (80.6% vs 62.0%, P <.001). Only 21.0% of AYAs were familiar with the potential value-based link between physician payment and care quality. Conclusions: When considering quality and value in health care, AYAs expressed their desired agency in rating the quality of their care and clinicians. AYAs’ perspectives on health care quality, including the importance of care accessibility and affordability, should be considered when designing youth-centered care delivery and value-based payment models.