Table 3.

Possible research questions arising from the data set.

Do the residency status of patients and insurance coverage determine the probability of patients falling into debts? The specific factor of residency status is important in Vietnam because society has for long been skeptical about provincial healthcare, leading patients to travel to large hospitals in major cities such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, or HCMC. Doing so not only necessitates accompanying and caretaking of family members but also entails travel costs and informational asymmetry on drug prices, treatment schedules, the best hospital to visit and even the ‘right amount’ of “extra thank-you money” (a kind of out-of-pocket expense; or OOP).

As for two most important factors to Vietnamese patients/households, i.e. treatment costs and illness, is there evidence to support this view and if yes, whose influence better explains the possibility of end results of treatment, empirically?

Can the likelihood of paying too little or too much out-of-pocket “extra thank-you money” be determined by the severity of illness and/or income of patients? This OOP amount may be significant but if a patient appreciates the value of service, he/she would be willing to pay depending on his/her availability of finance, before or after the course of treatment.