Reasons behind students’ choices of primary care physicians: Finding ways to improve information about physicians online

Abstract

Objective

Online biographies of physicians are becoming more common, yet there is scant research identifying the information preferences of prospective patients for these biographies. This study sets out to determine the reasons behind participants’ selection of a primary care physician after being exposed to three experimentally manipulated biographies. The goal is to help healthcare systems improve their current physician biographical offerings presented to prospective patients.

Methods

A total of 291 student participants were exposed to three experimentally manipulated primary care physician biographies with varying kinds and amounts of information. They were then asked to choose the physician they would like to visit, and why they selected that physician.

Results

Twelve themes emerged using a grounded theory approach to analyze the open-ended responses. Participants stated that the kind (i.e., both personal and professional) and amount of information were important in their selection processes. Nearly one-third indicated personality characteristics of the physician (e.g., nice and friendly) were important, and one-quarter wanted to choose the doctor with whom they had the highest level of familiarity. About 90% of participants indicated that they would want to visit the physician who provided both personal and professional information about themselves.

Practice implications

While professional information is still important to include on physicians’ online biographies, healthcare marketing professionals should also begin to provide more personal information about physicians (e.g., family information and personal hobbies) to help patients with their decision-making.

Keywords:

• Biography as topic
• Marketing of health services
• Physicians
• Primary health care
• Students

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Errata

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Evan K. Perrault

Evan K. Perrault, PhD, is an assistant professor of integrated strategic communication in the department of communication and journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. His research interests center around information-seeking behaviors and needs of patients in helping them choose physicians. He is also interested in the potential value of video content to supplement and enrich traditional print/text information in health-related contexts.

Kami J. Silk

Kami J. Silk, PhD, is a professor in the department of communication at Michigan State University.

Daniel Totzkay

Daniel Totzkay is a master's student in health and risk communication at Michigan State University.

Sarah Sheff

Sarah Sheff is a master's student in health and risk communication at Michigan State University.

Jisoo Ahn

Jisoo Ahn, MA, is a doctoral student in the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Texas at Austin.

Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman is a master's student in health and risk communication at Michigan State University.