Hospital choice: a summary of the key empirical and hypothetical findings of the 1980s.

The authors review the development of allopathic and osteopathic hospital choice criteria as found in the literature. Several of the findings are based on previously unpublished and uncited work. This comprehensive and up-to-date summary provides a synthesized view of hospital choice and covers the stability of hospital choice factors over time, factors based on type of care, hospital choice influencers, and the special influence of women on hospital choice. Implications for hospital management and marketing executives, and for future research, also are presented.