Survey finds patients considering digital tools when selecting doctor
Digital services play an important role in physician choice for 61 percent of patients, according to a survey conducted by TechnologyAdvice.
The Nashville-based consulting firm polled 406 U.S. adults who either had seen their primary care physician recently or had an appointment scheduled to do so.
Respondents were asked about a variety of digital tools, including health resources and education materials; mobile scheduling applications; online bill pay; online appointment scheduling; online test results or diagnoses; and secure messaging outside of office hours.
What respondents want doesn't necessarily match up with what physicians offer. For example, two-thirds of respondents said they wanted their physician to offer at least one of the digital tools listed in the survey and two-thirds said their provider did offer such services.While one-third said they wanted online test results, 28 percent said their physician offered them. Thirty percent said they wanted to schedule appointments online but 20 percent said their physician allowed for that. And, 25 percent said they wanted online bill pay tools but 18 percent said their physician offered that option.
However, the survey revealed a disconnect between the tools patients wanted and those doctors actually offered.
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.