Table 2.
Participants’ Survey Answer Choices
| Survey Questions and Answer Options | n | % | Average Reported Score (of 10) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participants who have access to Internet | 197 | 98.5 | |
| Participants’ self-reported skills for using Internet | 8.5 | ||
| Preferred Internet usage tool (participants can select >1 choice) | |||
| Desktop computer | 39 | 19.5 | |
| Mobile device | 129 | 64.5 | |
| Laptop | 85 | 42.5 | |
| Tablet | 19 | 9.5 | |
| Other | 2 | 1 | |
| Participants who know about social media | 193 | 96.5 | |
| Social media pages participants use (participants can select >1 choice) | |||
| 116 | 58 | ||
| 141 | 70.5 | ||
| 61 | 30.5 | ||
| 25 | 12.5 | ||
| 62 | 31 | ||
| Blogs | 10 | 5 | |
| Other | 28 | 14 | |
| Participants who have searched for current or potential physicians via Internet or social media | 123 | 61.5 | |
| Medical and nonmedical applications participants use to search for current or potential physicians via Internet or social media (participants can select >1 choice) | |||
| Yelp | 8 | 4 | |
| 101 | 50.5 | ||
| WebMD | 36 | 18 | |
| Healthgrades | 27 | 13.5 | |
| Vitals | 8 | 4 | |
| 12 | 6 | ||
| 9 | 4.5 | ||
| 10 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 1 | ||
| Blogs | 3 | 1.5 | |
| Other | 15 | 7.5 | |
| Participants’ criteria used to select specific physician (participants can select >1 choice) | |||
| Online ratings | 61 | 30.5 | |
| Online reviews | 84 | 42 | |
| Background education and training | 103 | 51.5 | |
| Location | 42 | 21 | |
| Insurance coverage | 62 | 31 | |
| Web page design | 6 | 3 | |
| Profile picture | 4 | 2 | |
| Awards | 8 | 4 | |
| Languages spoken | 8 | 4 | |
| Associate hospital and/or university facilities | 49 | 24.5 | |
| Nationality | 1 | 0.5 | |
| Friends/family | 78 | 39 | |
| Participants’ self-reported outcome of selected physicians based on online criteria | 8.4 | ||
| Participants who have reviewed or rated their physician via any medical application or website | 39 | 19.5 | |
| Participants’ motivation to review or rate their physician | |||
| Good medical experience | 37 | 18.5 | |
| Bad medical experience | 2 | 1 | |
| Other | 4 | 2 | |
| Participants who have recommended acquaintances, friends, or family to use social media or medical applications as method to select physicians | 142 | 71 | |
| Medical and nonmedical applications participants recommend to acquaintances, friends, or family to use as method to select physicians (participants can select >1 choice) | |||
| Yelp | 16 | 8 | |
| 114 | 57 | ||
| WebMD | 60 | 30 | |
| Healthgrades | 31 | 15.5 | |
| Vitals | 10 | 5 | |
| 22 | 11 | ||
| 18 | 9 | ||
| 26 | 13 | ||
| 6 | 3 | ||
| 1 | 0.5 | ||
| Blogs | 4 | 2 | |
| Other | 14 | 7 |