HCM 320 Journal 4-1.docx - Kayla Wulf HCM 320: Healthcare...

Kayla Wulf
HCM 320: Healthcare Economics
Southern New Hampshire University
May 24, 2021
I believe encouraging good habits and incentives have the most impact in terms of
changing patient behavior. It creates a waterfall effect. Physicians and clinicians will start with
patient education, informing them of the state of their health, what is causing it, and what can be
done to improve it. This gives the patient a solid foundation to begin a healthier lifestyle. An
incentive might just be the motivation that someone needs to begin their journey. Before this,
they might not have had a “good enough” reason to start exercising, for instance. With an
incentive, or reward, in sight, it would motivate a person to work hard to earn said reward. Many
times, people don’t want to do something, even if they know its good for them, unless they know
they are getting something tangible out of it.
As a patient, I would most readily respond to an incentive, either cash or non-cash. Say