Respondents said they desire personalized, tailored information to make the right decisions about their healthcare—particularly in relationship to cost.
Some gaps currently exist between the healthcare information that they want, what is available, and where it can be found. Moreover, respondents said they find the tools meant to help often do not give them the information they need. We considered three key factors that drive consumer choice of healthcare options as the focus for healthcare information transparency across insurance cost and coverage, clinical care and quality of the healthcare service, and nonclinical experience.
Respondents indicated that health coverage, cost, and experience were most important to them when deciding where to get care. Many consumers use insurance coverage as a proxy for cost of a service. They seek this information before they look at past experiences and medical reputation of healthcare providers. When respondents were asked what their first step would be when they were told to pursue treatment for an outpatient service from a specialist, 30 percent said they would check the quality of the facilities by asking friends or looking online 3, 4.
Understanding information around healthcare experience also influences healthcare decision making. While most insured respondents say that they understand their deductibles, opportunity remains to further expand information about this category.
Respondents were asked to select the important factors that would give them confidence that they would receive high-quality care Exhibit 3. Respondents were asked to report where they learned about the quality of a clinician or facility they wanted to visit or have visited.
Thirty-four percent asked their primary doctor for advice, while 28 percent asked friends or family. Respondents were asked about their preferred sources of support for healthcare decisions Exhibit 4. They relied on their own web research for selecting a PCP and a pharmacy, and for obtaining information about provider quality performance.
When consumers have access to information that is personalized to their situation, they are likely to make different decisions, often prioritizing factors important to them, such as cost.
The survey attempted to understand how consumers might use transparent information to make decisions through a simulated experience.
We identified several trends through this simulation:. To ascertain consumer choices in a real-world situation, we created three different health scenarios. We asked respondents to imagine that they recently moved and were looking to find a new PCP for their annual physicals. Respondents had to pick a PCP that best fit their needs. We provided them with eight options that had varying location information, wait times, and out-of-pocket costs.
We next asked respondents to imagine that they had been visiting a specialist and were referred for an outpatient procedure. We showed them five options with varying locations, quality, appointment wait times, and costs. In the third scenario, respondents were asked to imagine that their specialist and physical therapist recommended spinal surgery to improve their lower back pain. Respondents were asked to pick a facility they would want to attend to receive surgery.
We presented respondents with four options: two that were in-network, and two that were out-of-network. The in-network options were of average or slightly above-average quality, while the out-of-network options were high quality. About 90 percent of respondents chose the lower-cost, in-network options that were average quality over the higher-quality, higher-cost options Exhibit 6. We found a similar number of respondents were driven to switch locations based on learning about a poor experience.
Of the 45 percent of respondents who originally picked Hospital 1, 52 percent of respondents switched hospitals Exhibit 7.
In seeking healthcare information, most respondents stated a preference for using digital tools , rather than talking to a live person.
Yet, despite a majority of respondents reporting a preference for digital healthcare information sources over speaking to a live person, in practice, a minority of respondents reported actually using digital information sources 2 :. Massachusetts offers one example that illustrates the challenges of web-based price-estimate tools: it passed a law in to provide healthcare price estimates to consumers, but a report last year found only between 2 to 6. Trying to get all of my healthcare records in one place right now is a nightmare.
I would love to be able to make appointments, see test results, and access my medical history all in one place from all my providers.
It had a function to do so, but it did not work. The healthcare industry is becoming more transparent as stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem are not only expecting but also often demanding access to information. Providing consumers greater access to transparent information that they can understand has the potential to significantly improve their ability to engage in choosing where to receive care, including making trade-offs that are important to them, while improving their experience.
When armed with transparent information, consumers are likely to make different decisions. These decisions include choosing a different provider, often considering reputation, quality, and costs. Convenience is less of a priority when tackling health concerns: younger generations tend to be more willing to drive longer distances to seek a lower-cost solution, while those over age 65 prefer high-quality options, even if they are less convenient.
On the flip side, healthcare companies that lead the way in transparency may have the opportunity to build relationships with consumers to help them make their health decisions more effectively and to shape what and how information is shared at the industry level.
According to customer reviews research:. By claiming a profile on top doctor review sites, healthcare groups can improve their online visibility, capture valuable patient feedback, and drive patient acquisition. This is the first and crucial step to maintaining an effective local listing management strategy. To make the most out of your online reputation, start with these top doctor review sites:. Instead, teams should focus their time and effort to claim profiles on review sites that already cater to a specific and garner plenty of traffic because of its popularity.
The sites below meet one or both of those criteria. Healthcare reputation teams should check if their organization is already a part of one or more of the many popular review sites below. Customer reviews data shows that Google holds To create or edit your profile on Google, visit the Google My Business page. For tips on how to optimize your profile, check out comprehensive guide on using Google My Business. Yelp is known for its restaurant profiles and reviews, but the original idea for the website came about when co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman fell sick and found it difficult to find any doctors in his area.
You can claim a profile by signing up on the Yelp for Business Owners page. First-time Yelp profile owners should also take a look at our Yelp business guide. Healthgrades has consistently ranked as one of the most trusted and best doctor review websites since its inception in The site lets users browse and find doctors, dentists, hospitals, and specialists by location, condition, specialty, and procedure.
The site features over 1. The site has advertising programs for providers looking to promote their practice. You can learn to claim and update your free profile by reading our Healthgrades guide. Another leading resource for doctor reviews and information is Vitals, which features over 1 million physician profiles, , facility profiles, and more than 9 million reviews and ratings.
Vitals obtains information and data from a wide variety of sources both public and private, including medical boards from all 50 states, federal websites, hospitals, doctors, surveys, business alliances and third-party affiliates. You can claim a Vitals profile by searching for the specific practice on the website.
With a claimed profile, you should be able to update photos and manage specific information including display name, practice address, specialties and expertise, and education and awards. The form gives you a couple of options for adding or claiming your profile:. Once you have updated your profile, be sure to read these tips on how to manage Vitals reviews. Created in as a solution for patients looking for transparent and trustworthy information about healthcare providers, practices, and hospitals in their area, CareDash has since become one of the fastest growing healthcare and medical doctor review websites in the world.
Over 2 million patients visit CareDash every month as their preferred site for doctor reviews. It features over 3 million active healthcare provider, practice and hospital profiles, along with hundreds of thousands of verified patient reviews.
In addition to healthcare profiles, Wellness. Profiles include doctor ratings and reviews, accepted forms of insurance, certifications, and more. You can get listed on Wellness.
For more information, check out the Wellness. ZocDoc offers a platform for booking appointments instantly. Patients can also submit their own Zocdoc reviews that can help others choose the right doctor, and users can use the site to fill out basic forms that are typically part of the waiting room experience. RateMDs is home to over 2. It also lists and rates top hospitals and facilities across the US based on review information such as cleanliness and value.
For individual providers, reviewers can provide ratings based on punctuality, staff, helpfulness, and overall knowledge. Oogle specializes in dentist profiles and reviews. Each profile also includes a list of the most used keywords from reviewers, office hours, coupons, and photos and videos. Reviewers can leave text feedback and an overall rating. However, they can also rate the experience based on multiple factors such as results, cost, and hygiene.
Those who want to claim a profile can do so with their email address, Facebook profile, or Google account.
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