The vast majority of people have neither seen nor used comparative quality information about healthcare-related providers. That’s the conclusion of findings from a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Overall, only about one in seven respondents (14%) said they had seen and used information comparing the quality of different health insurance plans, doctors, or hospitals in the past year. Many also favor familiarity over expert ratings, especially for doctor or hospital choices.
The poll also found that fewer than half of Americans perceive that there are “big” differences in quality among different health-related providers. Perceptions of differences in quality increased from 1996 to 2000, but have fallen in recent years.
The poll was based on interviews of a randomly selected nationally representative sample of 1,517 respondents 18 years or older, conducted by telephone from July 29 to August 6, 2008.
