“On the doctor's orders”: A pilot study of the effects of website marketing for medical specialist providers under gatekeeping arrangements

Figures & data

Table 1. Percentage of participants mentioning a motivation for choosing a medical specialist provider, as a function of exposure to private specialist provider websites.

Motivation for choosing provider	Exposure to private providers’ websites	Control group
Service	24	18
Expertise	27	12
Finances	12	12
Familiarity	26	29
Nonpretentiousness	0	9
Other idiosyncratic	12	21

Note. Six participants did not give an answer. The remaining respondents are n = 43 experimental and n = 34 control group. Percentages do not add up to 100% because participants could give more than one motivation.

Table 2. Percentage of participants who gave reasons for complying with physician gatekeeper’s referral to general hospital, as a function of exposure to private specialist provider websites.

Reason for compliance	Exposure to private providers’ websites	Control group
Doctor knows best	81.3	38.1
Inappropriate to question	0	0
Higher quality hospital treatment	6.3	28.6
Not covered by health insurance	6.3	4.8
Not aware of alternatives	0	28.6
Other	6.3	0