Alicia Núñez, MBA, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Management Control and Information Systems at The National University of Chile. Her presentation, "Investigating Public Values in Health Care Priority    ¾ Chileans’ Preference for National Health Care," will take place on October 14, via Zoom from 12:00PM- 1:00PM. Registration is not required.

This study aims to assess preferences and values for priority setting in healthcare in Chile through an original and innovative survey method. Based on the answers from a previous survey that examined the barriers the Chilean population face, this study estimates the preferences of the communities overcoming those barriers.

The result indicates six programs were identified: (1) new infrastructure, (2) better healthcare coverage, (3) increasing physicians/specialists, (4) new informatics systems, (5) new awareness healthcare programs, and (6) improving availability of drugs. To increase the number of doctors/specialists and improve patient-doctor communication was the program that obtained the highest priority. The second and third priorities correspond to improving and investing in infrastructure and expanding the coverage of healthcare insurances. Further, the majority of respondents chose equal access for equal healthcare as the distributive justice principle to guide the Chilean health system. This study demonstrated that with an innovative method and adequate guidance, average population is capable of engaging in expressing their preferences and values, and a large population sample can participate in major decision making of national health policies.