SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 23, 2014) - Grand Rounds, a company that delivers world-class outcomes to patients by connecting them with the top medical specialists in the country, today released its Consumer Quality Care Survey, revealing an epidemic of misdiagnosis and a fundamental lack of understanding of physician quality. There continues to be a largely uniformed consumer base, with 60 percent of people reporting that they do not know anything about the doctors that treat them, despite one in two people being misdiagnosed or having a family member misdiagnosed, and a shocking 12 percent of people knowing someone who has died as a result of a misdiagnosis or botched medical treatment.
A Community in Crisis
Despite people saying they want quality care, with 90 percent of people willing to pay more for a more qualified physician for a medium-high risk health concern, most don't take their healthcare into their own hands. The survey found that 60 percent of people know nothing about the medical qualifications of their physicians; most people (70%) who have not sought a medical second opinion say it's due to confidence in their existing physicians. At the same time, 20 percent of people cite that they are dissatisfied with their current healthcare plan due to the lack of availability of quality doctors in their network.
Employers Step In To Ensure Quality Care
The survey also indicated a rising trend of enterprise involvement in managing healthcare outcomes, a dynamic driven by employers facing extraordinarily high annual healthcare spends. Full-time employed consumers indicated key preferences that healthcare companies and enterprises alike should keep in mind as they continue to partner on healthcare management programs:
- Better doctors = happier employees: More than one in ten respondents (13%) cite lack of access to the right doctors as the top reason for dissatisfaction with their plan. The top reason (72%) for dissatisfaction remains the cost of deductible or premium.
- Out of network? No problem: More than a third of respondents (34%) say high patient success rate is the most important factor in choosing a doctor, but a third (33%) say the most important factor when choosing a doctor is that they are covered in-network. This can be quite a Hobson's Choice for employees who need access to experts.
- Listen to your employees, build a better app: As the enterprise moves to offer more services and apps for healthcare management, the top requested apps are management of a chronic illness or condition (36%) and anytime access to a physician (30%).
"The survey results reinforce what we hear from our patients on a daily basis: access to top specialist is their number one concern. However, most don't know how to find great doctors or where to turn when it really matters," says Grand Rounds CEO Owen Tripp. "While individuals absolutely have a responsibility to take matters into their own hands, it's the lack of understanding which doctors are delivering quality care that serves as a major barrier to positive healthcare outcomes. Since most people rely on their employers for coverage, it's time for companies to take a more active role in ensuring the health of their employees."
About Grand Rounds
Grand Rounds is an Outcomes Management platform that delivers the best healthcare outcomes for employees at the lowest possible cost to employers. It does this by providing an end-to-end solution that connects patients with highly specialized care informed by latest best practices -- preventing complications, multiple surgeries, and failed treatments. Grand Rounds helps get employees back to work faster, while employers reap the benefits of lower medical costs and higher employee productivity. For more information, visit http://www.grandroundshealth.com.