Factors influencing patients' choice of primary medical doctors.

This study investigated factors that influence adult patients' choice of primary care physicians and aimed to determine whether patients know the difference between internal medicine and family medicine. One thousand patients who had seen their primary care physician in either the family medicine or internal medicine department at Mayo Clinic in 2001 were sent a questionnaire to determine 1) the factors that influenced their choice of physician and 2) their knowledge of the characteristics of both specialties. Forty-six percent of the patients responded. Patients most often cited the doctor's "Approach to patient care" and "Interpersonal skills/communication" as affecting their choice of physician. Results also showed patient knowledge of the difference between family medicine and internal medicine was poor. The authors conclude that patients must be educated about the differences in the training of and care provided by different types of primary care physicians.