Dynamics of Equity, Efficiency, and Efficacy in Home Health Care with Patient and Caregiver Preferences

TL;DR

This paper models the complex interactions among firms, caregivers, and patients in home health care, aiming to understand how their conflicting objectives influence overall system dynamics and outcomes.

Contribution

It introduces an integrated framework capturing the conflicting interests of all stakeholders in home health care and analyzes their dynamic interactions.

Findings

Identifies trade-offs between efficiency and fairness.

Highlights the impact of stakeholder preferences on care quality.

Provides insights for optimizing resource allocation.

Abstract

There are three main entities in an HHC setting: the firm, the caregivers, and the patients. Often times the interests of each group of entities conflict with the other two. Whether a non-profit or a for-profit HHC, the firm generally seeks efficiency in terms of maximum utilization of the resources and highest level of care provided to the patients. Caregivers, seek a fair utilization across the network in order to increase job satisfaction. Finally, the patients seek maximum satisfaction level and a fair share of the care provided by the firm. Therefore, looking at HHCs from either one of these lenses by themselves leads to decisions that may neglect the interests of the others. The goal of this paper is to integrate the objectives of these three groups into one place and study their dynamics.