Many Older Americans Use Online Ratings When Choosing Physicians

A survey published in Annals of Internal Medicine found over 40 percent of older Americans said they used online ratings or reviews when choosing their doctor, reports Healio . The researchers analyzed answers from 2,256 Americans aged 50 to 80 years, mostly female and white. The results indicated that 42.9 percent said they had acquired online ratings or reviews for a physician when choosing one for themselves. More women than men opted for this process, as did subjects with at least one chronic medical condition, and those with at least some college education or higher compared with those with a high school education or less. Meanwhile, the criteria older adults deemed "very important" when choosing a doctor included whether they took their health insurance and whether they were the same race/ethnicity as them. Online physician ratings and reviews were considered almost as valuable as verbal recommendations, and were thought to be "very important" more often among racial/ethnic minorities and less often among respondents with at least a bachelor's degree. "There is often a perception that online information sources are more used by, and useful to, younger patients, but our results suggest that many older patients are engaging with this information too," said University of Michigan Professor Jeffrey T. Kullgren.