Two polls were used to measure the impact of HMOs and managed care on the quality of health care in Boston.  Patients and physicians were interviewed in separate surveys.  You can find more information on television polling at our Viewer Views page.

Patient Attitudes

Poll for WCVB-TV and The Boston Herald

Here are some key excerpts from the survey of patients.

Generally, patients are confident that they will be treated competently by their primary care physician. However, one-third of HMO participants were unwilling to say they are "very confident" in their primary care physician. For something as critical as your health, or your children's health, this would seem to be something most people would want to be "very confident" about.

Would you say you are very confident in your primary care physician, somewhat confident or not very confident?

While HMOs generally did fairly well with their subscribers, people who had previously had a fee-for-service program were less satisfied with their newer service.

Satisfaction with current health insurance plan compared by type and history of health insurance

A little more than one-quarter (29%) of HMO participants who previously had fee-for-service were somewhat dissatisfied.

HMO participants were much less likely to be very satisfied (46% to 70%) with access to a specialist.

Satisfaction with access to specialist of choice compared by current health insurance plan

HMO members were seven times (14%-02%) more likely to claim they had been denied reimbursement for emergency care.

Have you ever been discouraged from going to emergency room or denied reimbursement for emergency care?

Roughly one-third of both groups think business people decide your health care, as opposed to physicians.

In HMO plans, business people decide your health care, not doctors.

Executed by The University of New Hampshire Survey Center

Sample: 411 Massachusetts adults

Field: October 13-17, 1995

Copyright 1995, 1996 by Standish Publishing Company. Photocopying, reproduction or quotation is prohibited without the permission of the publisher. THE RUNDOWN (ISSN:0035-9912) is published weekly. Mailing address: Box 335, Ardmore, PA, 19003- 0335.

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