How the public chooses and views hospitals.

This article examines factors people consider important in choosing a hospital, as well as their feelings toward hospitals. It begins with a brief discussion and overview of the literature on how people choose doctors and hospitals. The literature on factors involved in people's choices of new physicians is discussed primarily because of the lack of data in this area. After reviewing the issues, we describe the data used in this study and the context in which they were gathered. The analysis is divided into two sections: the first examines the salient issues in choosing a hospital, while the second examines the public's attitudes toward hospitals. Finally, we present a summary of the results and conclusions.