Most patients decide on a hospital before settling on a physician — or land on both in the same step — when they first encounter a new health concern, according to survey results U.S. News & World Report published July 20.
U.S. News worked with PureSpectrum to poll 500 Americans nationwide who had personally arranged care for themselves or a family member within the past two years.
Here are six things to know from the survey:
1. Fifty-three percent of respondents said the hospital came first in their decision, or that hospital and physician were chosen together. The other 47% picked their physician before the hospital entered the picture.
2. When a preferred physician cannot practice at a patient’s hospital of choice, 80% follow that physician to a different facility rather than give up the relationship. Only 20% take the opposite route, opting for a different physician to stay at the hospital they want.
3. Patients trust referrals from physicians the most when it comes to sources of information about hospitals, averaging at 4.0 on a five-point scale of trustworthiness. Next was data directories, such as online directories or hospital websites, at 3.5 to 3.7, followed by AI chatbots, social media and podcasts, at 2.7 to 2.8.
3. Patients still trust their own physicians’ referrals above any other source of hospital information. Methodology-backed rankings, along with hospital and insurer directories, land just behind that. Podcasts, AI tools and social platforms rank lowest of all the options.
4. Age shifts that picture: patients between 26 and 40 place nearly as much trust in podcasts, AI chatbots and social platforms as they do in referrals or hospital websites — a gap that is far wider among older patients. That same younger group also leans on consumer reviews: 81% said sites like Google and Yelp shape what they decide.
5. Once inside a hospital, respondents pointed to cleanliness as the top safety cue (51%), ahead of visible technology and equipment (36%), staff presentation (35%), visible security (26%), how crowded the space feels (20%), noise levels (17%) and wayfinding signage (15%).
6. Proximity matters most for routine care — 62% called a hospital’s location “very important” to that decision — but patients loosen that standard for serious conditions: 36% said they would go beyond three hours for specialized treatment.
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