Patients changing doctors in record numbers
June 1, 1999
Patients changing doctors in record numbers
Physicians, not health plans, cited as reason
Half of America’s 100 million households changed, added, or selected a physician in the past two years, according to a recent study by VHA Inc., an Orlando, FL-based network of community-owned hospitals.
Contrary to popular assumptions, health plans are not the top reason for this record change, the study concludes. According to VHA’s findings, 52% of health care consumers say poor communication is the main reason they are unhappy with their present physicians. Another 25% said they were not satisfied with the quality of care they received.
"In the information age, there shouldn’t be barriers to quality communication," says Kelly W. Breazeale, senior vice president of VHA. "We learned from the study that patients want access to credible, current information. And they want to be able to communicate easily with their doctor about treatment options."
According to the research, a startling 71% of health care consumers say they were given no health information during their last physician visit. Yet 85% of those who did receive information found it extremely helpful. The study also found that of all the ways to obtain health information, most consumers’ first choice is to get information from their personal physician.
"The roles played by quality communication and shared information in improving health cannot be underestimated," says Roxy Marrese, MD, who has a private practice in Daytona, FL. "My ability to help my patients, and their satisfaction with me, is directly determined by how well we connect with each other."
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