When choosing a doctor or a health plan, Americans are more likely to rely on the advice of friends and family than on the opinions of employers or independent rankings, according to a survey by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation and the Agency for Health Care Policy.
Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said they did not think their employers were a good source of information, noting that an employer's main concern was saving money on health benefits.
Ratings by local news outlets affected only 15 percent of the choices made, the study found. People are also more likely to remain with a hospital or a doctor with which they were familiar rather than use one that got better ratings from outside sources.
Still, the survey found that people did want reliable and independent information, especially about patient experiences and attitudes such as whether patients had filed complaints against a doctor, patient satisfaction and how much preventative care health plan offer.
The telephone study of 2,006 adults was conducted by Princeton Research. (Kaiser, 212/233-7800)