Transcript Chapter 3 Consumer Rights

Chapter 3 Consumer Rights
Making Consumer Choices
– Health consumer- anyone who purchases or uses
health products or services.
 Influence decisions:
 Internal- habit, personal taste
 External- opinions of family, friends, cost & media
– Media: various methods of communicating
information (tv, radio, newspaper, magazines,
billboards, internet).
– Advertising: written or spoken media messages
designed to interest consumers in purchasing a
product or service.
Primary purpose is to make you WANT to buy
product.
– Comparison shopping: a method of judging the
benefits of different products by comparing several
factors, like features, quality, and cost.
Things to watch for in Advertising
Technique:
• Bandwagon: BANDWAGON
Bandwagon is a form of propaganda that exploits the
desire of most people to join the crowd or be on the
winning side, and avoid winding up the losing side. Few of
us would want to wear nerdy cloths, smell differently from
everyone else, or be unpopular.
• Rich and famous
• Free gifts
• Great Outdoors
• Good Times
• Testimonial
Examples of Bandwagon
1980s we all had crazy clothes and hair…check out
those shorty shorts that my brothers are wearing.
Early
80s
Late
80s
Early 90s poofy
hair….cool but took
hours to curl and
enough hairspray to
kill ozone
Advertising will use rare lil cuties like this
very rare albino hummingbird to sell their
products!
Rich and Famous
Really the Rich Gangsters wear these flip flops??? They use the idea that
if you wear these or whatever they are selling…you too can be rich and
famous.
Great Outdoors:
Use of families having fun outside with beautiful scenery to sell…
In fact where is this water that these kids are fishing? Who looks so
stylish camping????
Good Times
Ads will play off of good times that you remember or makes you
remember the good ole’ times that you shared with your family.
Testimonials
They will use rare cases of people to say how they lost all this weight and
you can do it too.
Product/Services Considerations
• Cost: Compare prices of same or similar
brands at different stores (Kroger vs Walmart)
• Features: What product features are
important…don’t pay extra for things you
don’t need
• Quality: well made products offer superior
performance. An inexpensive product is no
bargain if it breaks or doesn’t work.
• Warranty: company or stores written
agreement to repair a product or refund your
money should the product not function
properly. Ask about warranty before
purchasing. Read entirely and make sure you
understand terms and cost.
• Recommendations: Talk to others who used
product or service before purchasing
• Safety: Should be the most important in mind
when choosing sports, recreation, or homesafety products.
– Underwriters Laboratory (UL): product safety
testing and certification organization. Logo found
on electrical appliances, and other products to
show it has passed safety standards.
– Snell & American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) :monitor safety standards for helmets and
other protective equipment. Look for logo and
safety info before purchasing.
Rights as a Consumer
You have rights, before and after you purchase a
product or service. Most stores want their
customers satisfied so they recognize and
respect these rights. You also have a right to
complain.
Safety- you have right to purchase
products/services that will not hurt
you/others
Choice: Have right to select from many
products at competitive prices.
Informed: have right to truthful information
about products and services.
Be heard: you have right to join in making of
laws that govern buying and selling.
Have problems corrected: you have right to
seek compensation when treated unfairly.
Consumer education: you have right to learn
skills to help you make wise choices.
Online Shopping
• Using internet to buy products and services
• Considerations:
– Price: offer lower prices but account for shipping, tax,
return policy.
– Convenience: delivered directly to home (but home to sign
for pkg, what if left and stolen)…but return—you have to
repackage and ship back (who pays).
– Product information: online description accurate? You can
only view online…can’t examine before you purchase.
Safeguards to online shopping
• Under 18, get parent permission.
• Make sure site is secure. How do you know?
Will credit card info be accessible?
• Check and understand return policy.
• Save confirmation numbers and related info to
your purchase in case problems arise.
Lets move on to section 2
Choosing health services
• Types of health Services
– Health Care System: medical care available to
nation’s people, the way they receive care, and
method of payment.
– Divided into 2 types:
• General Care (ex: Primary Care physician, nurses,
dentists, etc.)
• Specialized Care (Specialists).
Facilities for Health Care
• Inpatient vs Outpatient
• Private Practices- Dr.s work for self but usually
associated with certain hospitals
• Clinics- Community care
• Group practices- share office, equipment, and support
staff.
• Hospitals- Offer inpatient and outpatient care
• Emergency Room- Located within hospital to provide
care for life threatening emergencies
• Urgent Care- staffed by PCP to handle emergencies
that are not life threatening.
How to pay for health services
• Health Insurance- plan for private companies or govt
programs pay for part or all person’s medical cost.
• Premium- cost associated with belonging to insurance
program
• Out of pocket- amount you have to pay for dr. visit
• Deductible- amount $ member must pay before
insurance company pays.
• Co-pay: amount you have to pay every time you go to
Dr. (most PCP $25, Specialist $35 except some things
like preventative care are covered fully)
Insurance Plans
• HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations): pay
monthly premium but few or little out of pocket cost,
but can only see specialist after being referred from
PCP and only doctors in network.
• PPOs (Preferred Provider Organization): Doctors in
network agree to charge less that reg. fee, pay monthly
premium to belong, can use drs in or out of network
and can see any specialist when they choose.
• POS (Point of Service Plans) Can choose providers in or
out of network but often have higher premiums
Trends in Health Care
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Birthing Centers
Drug Treatment Centers
Continuing Care and assisted living facilities
Hospices
Telemedicine
You and your health
• Know your medical history. Know your
immunizations, allergies, any health problems
that you have had and any immediate family
members.
• Patient Skills:
– Before you go to dr. write down your reasons for
seeing the dr. and any symptoms.
– Ask questions while you are there about diagnosis,
medications or procedures that you do not
understand or are unsure.
– Inform them of any allergies or medications that you
are taking.
Medicines or Herbal Supplements
• Make sure Dr. and pharmacists know all
medicines including OTCs, Scripts or
supplements that you are taking.
• Any problem that occurs with medicine,
please contact Dr./pharmacist right away
Health Rights
• You have the right to your medical records.
• Laws protect your confidentiality by limiting
access by other individuals or organizations.
• Name the law?
Managing Consumer Problems
• Fraud: deliberate deceit or trickery. Generally,
those selling fraudulent products often go out
of business once consumers complaints
expose them.
• Health Fraud: known as quackery, sale of
worthless products or services that claim to
prevent disease or cure health problems.
– Areas known to susceptible health fraud:
• Weight loss products- some ads claim you can lose
weight overnight or without changing eating habits
or diet.
• Beauty and anti-aging products- tooth whiteners,
hair enhancers, wrinkle creams—these work
temporarily but none have permanent results.
• Clinics that specialize in miracle cures: not all clinics
are fraudulent but check with health care
professional before seeking treatment.
Health care mistakes
• Malpractice: failure of health care professional
to meet accepted standards. Get second
opinion from specialist and you can file a
complaint with state medical board or
American Medical Association.
Addressing Consumer Problems
• Better Business Bureau (BBB)- deal with
complaints against local merchants. Core
service is to help resolve dispute of service or
product and follow up in truth of advertising.
• Consumer Advocates- groups of people who
sole purpose is to take on regional, national,
or international consumer issues.
Local, State, & Federal Govt
Agencies
• FTC (Federal Trade Commission) work to prevent false
or deceptive advertising that deals with health related
products or services.
• FDA (Food and Drug Administration) ensure that
medicines and food are handled safely, effectively and
properly labeled.
• Consumer Product Safety Commission protects
consumers against harmful products and can recall
dangerous ones.
• Small claims court/state court can handle legal disputes
involving $ below limit.
Public Health
• Public Health- community wide effort to monitor
welfare of population.
• State, County, and City health Dept.: oversee
standards for water/sewer systems, waste disposal,
sanitation of restaurants, health of residents.
• WHO (World Health Organization)- agency in UN
trying to eradicate disease like polio, cholera, and
pollution.
• International Committee of Red Cross: emergency
aid to victims of disease outbreaks, conflict and
natural disasters.