Study Finds Consumers Want More Information on Doctors Online
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — According to the recent Patient Choice study released by Insider Pages and conducted by Harris Interactive®, U.S. adults with a primary care physician spend more time researching the latest electronic gadget or a gift for a friend than they do selecting their primary care physician. At the same time, the majority of U.S. adults with a primary care physician wish they could find more comprehensive information about their doctors online.
While the online ratings and reviews category has seen explosive growth in recent years across a number of categories such as consumer electronics, healthcare has lagged far behind, and consumers have more or less settled for what they can find out about their doctors from health insurance websites. The end result is that many consumers don’t favor one source of information to evaluate potential doctors outside of their insurance companies’ websites. Compounding this problem is the belief by many of those with a primary care physician that the recently passed Healthcare reform bill will require them to switch doctors. Between November 10 and November 21, 2010, Insider Pages commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct the telephone study among 2,020 adults aged 18+ of whom 1,490 have a doctor they consider their primary doctor.
The results also suggest that many people base their choice of doctor on the convenience of the doctor’s office location, as opposed to other important factors such as patient ratings, the doctor’s malpractice records or expertise.