Sports Medicine Physician Selection Criteria: Factors Influencing Patient Choice

OBJECTIVES: The rise in consumer-driven health insurance plans has increased the role of the patient in provider selection. The purpose of the present study is to identify factors that may influence a patient’s criteria for selecting his or her sports medicine physician. METHODS: A total of 1077 patients who sought treatment by three sports medicine physicians were administered an anonymous questionnaire. Of these, 382 patients (35%) completed the survey. Response rates for each survey question ranged between 98% and 100%. The first part of the questionnaire consisted of 3 questions regarding demographic information. The second portion of the questionnaire consisted of 25 questions regarding provider selection. Of these, 19 questions asked respondents to rate the importance of specific criteria for the purposes of sports medicine physician selection on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important. The remaining 6 questions were multiple-choice questions regarding the following criteria: the importance of physician age, appointment availability, clinic waiting room times, travel distance, and medical student/resident involvement. RESULTS: Of the 382 respondents, 59% (n=224) were male and 41% (158) female. Regarding age, 29% (112) of respondents were under 35 years, 63% (234) between age 35 and 65 years, and 8% (35) were over 65 years. The majority of patients (89%) reported that 30 minutes or less should pass between check-in and seeing their physician during a clinic appointment. Most patients expressed no preference regarding resident (71%) or medical student (68%) involvement in their care. Regarding physician age, 63% of patients would consider seeking a physician who is younger than 65 years. Approximately 78% of patients would consider seeking a different physician if no appointments were available within 4 weeks. The ranking of the 19 criteria in terms of importance to patients are listed in Table 1. Patients rated board certification (9.12 ± 1.88), being “well-known” for a specific area of expertise (8.27 ± 2.39), and in-network provider status (8.13 ± 2.94) as the three most important factors in selecting a sports medicine physician. Radio, television, and internet advertisement were rated by patients as the least important factors in sports medicine physician selection. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that board certification, being “well-known” for a specific area of expertise, and in-network health insurance plans may be the most important factors influencing patients’ criteria for sports medicine physician selection. Radio, television, and internet advertisements were the least important criteria considered by patients. Patients expressed varying preferences regarding the ideal physician age, medical student/resident involvement, and clinic appointment availability when choosing a sports medicine physician. In the context of the increasing role of patients in health decision-making and provider selection, understanding the factors that influence patients’ selection of a sports medicine physician is important.