@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }
Patients are finding it hard to do online research on their primary care doctors, according to a new survey.
The Patient Choice study, released by Insider Pages and conducted by Harris Interactive, polled 2,020 adults – 1,490 of which have a doctor they consider to be their primary physician. According to the survey, patients are often choosing a physician based on location or what they find on their insurance company's website.
The study indicates that patients with a primary care physician are not satisfied with the amount of information they can find online. They report feeling like they are making choices and decisions about providers with an imperfect set of information.
According to the survey, 71 percent of adults surveyed said they wish doctors would post information online about their medical background and expertise.
Because finding such data on doctors is difficult, the study indicates patients have lowered their standards in trying to find detailed information about doctors. Almost half of adults surveyed said they spend more time researching consumer electronics than they do their doctor, and 59 percent agreed that they rarely research specialists to whom they are referred.
Beyond factors such as insurance accepted by the doctor and the location of his or her office, recommendations from family and friends were the next most important deciding factor in choosing a doctor. The overwhelming majority of adults with a primary care physician stated they would recommend their doctor to friends or family.
The survey also found that 42 percent of adults worry that the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would require them to change their doctor.
