A recent NRC Health "2016 U.S. Healthcare Consumer Insights" report examined online ratings and reviews on hospital websites from patients.

The report includes information from nearly 305,000 American households in 2016, focusing on individual views of hospital websites, usage and choices. Main findings include the following:

• 31 percent of consumers have recently visited their providers website, an increase from 26.6 percent in 2015.
• 34 percent of patients believe ratings and reviews of physicians are the most important information on a hospital website followed by hospital specialty (29 percent) and doctor biographies (27 percent).
• 37 percent of patients visiting hospital websites are between the ages of 35 to 44, 36.8 percent are between 18 and 35, 29 percent are between 45 and 64.
• 47 percent of 18- to 34-year-old patients are more likely to visit a provider with a website; 44 percent of patients ages 35 to 44 report the same.
• 45 percent of patients ages 18 to 34 use mobile devices to access health information; 42 percent of patients ages 35 to 44 and 26 percent of patients ages 45 to 64 report mobile usage.
• 35.5 percent of patients ages 45 to 64 have utilized affordable health services of mini clinics over office visits, followed by 22.8 percent of patients ages 18 to 34 and 22.7 percent of patients 65 and older.
• 21.8 percent of patients reported that they or someone in their household have delayed healthcare treatment in the last six months, an increase from 18.6 percent in 2015.
• 27.3 percent of patients have delayed healthcare due to being unable to pay.