Half of Bangalore says 'we don't need family doctors'

When the city based health-management organisation, PeopleHealth conducted a survey on ‘How People Choose a Doctor’ amongst 1000 respondents in the age group of 21-40, the results pointed out that only half of the respondents had a family doctor and of these, only 10 per cent were looking for one.

Similarly, only 50 per cent ranked the profile of doctor as an important factor before going for a treatment.

The survey also pointed out that more than 40 per cent did not even have the contact details of a doctor or a hospital in case of an emergency. A 13 per cent confessed that they just walk into an hospital in case of crisis. The brand value of the hospital and its proximity were not that crucial.

However, 70 per cent of the respondents expressed that they chose hospitals based on their familiarity with the doctors and that the latter’s attitude mattered.

The survey also pointed out several other noteworthy facts like, only 11 per cent found health care facilities in the city to be unhygienic and that a meager 10 per cent feel that they were prescribed more medicines than needed.

Only 20 per cent thought that the medical charges were unreasonably high with 50 per cent claiming that their monthly spend on health care was less than Rs 500, the survey revealed.