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CHICAGO, Mar 02, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A study released Tuesday shows many U.S. consumers do not use online physician directories, relying instead on personal recommendations.
The "Finding Doctors in Chicago" project was conducted by the Midwest Business Group on Health and sponsored by the non-profit, non-partisan Commonwealth Fund in New York to look at the feasibility of adopting national standards for physician directories and consumer attitudes.
Researchers surveyed more than 2,250 consumers online and asked how they went about finding a doctor and what information was most useful in selecting a physician.
The results show many consumers are unaware of the extent of physician data available on the Internet and do not have much experience using it. People said they felt uncomfortable with online directories as their only way of finding a physician and preferred physicians who were easy to reach, used their favorite hospitals and were covered by their insurance.
Physicians surveyed on the same issue also indicated they were reluctant to use online directories.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
