Patients changing doctors in record numbers

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 physician. Another 25% said they were not satisfied with the quality of care they received.

According to the research, 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, getting information from their personal physician is most consumers’ first choice.