Behavioral Economics in Healthcare

Behavioral economics in healthcare explores how psychological factors, emotions, and social influences affect patients' and providers' decision-making, often deviating from pure cost-benefit logic. It examines why people might neglect healthy behaviors, choose unnecessary treatments, or stick to ineffective habits despite knowing better. By understanding these patterns, healthcare providers can design interventions—such as reminders or defaults—that help individuals make better health choices. Essentially, it merges insights from psychology and economics to improve health outcomes by addressing the real-world, human ways people think and behave about health.