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AUGUST 2, 2017

Most patients in U.S. have high praise for

their health care providers
BY MARK STRAUSS (HTTP://WWW.PEWRESEARCH.ORG/AUTHOR/MSTRAUSS/)

(Jeff Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images)

While many physicians in the United States report frustrations with their work
(http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/838437_1) , the public continues to hold health care providers in high regard.
(http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/02/most-patients-in-u-s-have-high-praise-for-their-health-care-providers/ft_17-
08-02_healthcaremostpeople/) Nearly nine-in-ten Americans (87%) who have seen a health care provider in the past year
say their concerns or descriptions of symptoms were carefully listened to, and 84% say they felt their provider “really
cared about (their) health and well-being,” according to a Pew Research Center survey
(http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/02/02/americans-health-care-behaviors-and-use-of-conventional-and-alternative-medicine/)
conducted in spring 2016. Just 23% of patients said they “felt rushed by their health care provider,” and even fewer
(15%) felt confused about instructions they got for treatment or at-home care.

These findings come despite a range of negative experiences reported by health care providers themselves. Professional
burnout, for example, is reportedly on the rise (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/838437_1) among physicians due to
long work hours and excessive administrative burdens. Pediatricians find it harder to do their jobs as they confront a
growing number (http://web.missouri.edu/~segerti/3830/Vaccines.pdf) of parents who are hesitant to vaccinate their
children.

Adding to this pressure, the medical personnel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have had to cope with
some 750 potentially serious health threats (https://www.cdc.gov/outbreaks/) in the past two years, even as the agency
faces budget uncertainties (http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/05/23/529654114/medical-research-health-care-
face-deep-cuts-in-trump-budget) in the year ahead. Medical professionals and other stakeholders also have been shut out
(https://www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom/americas-frontline-physicians-urge-us-senate-to-find-a-new-way-forward-with-
health-care) of congressional deliberations about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, their
own patients have grown more critical about the country’s health care system: A 2014 Pew Research Center survey
(http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/chapter-2-perspectives-on-the-place-of-science-in-society/) found that just 26% of
adults say U.S. health care is above average or the best in the world, down from 39% in 2009.

Health care providers are not the only medical professionals who receive favorable ratings from the public. Medical
scientists are likewise held in high esteem.

For example, in a 2016 Pew Research Center survey (http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/10/04/the-politics-of-

climate/#confidence-in-scientists-and-other-groups-to-act-in-the-public-interest) , 84% of Americans expressed at least a fair
amount of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public. And a 2013 survey
(http://www.pewforum.org/2013/07/11/public-esteem-for-military-still-high/) revealed that 66% of Americans believe
doctors contribute “a lot” to the well-being of society – a higher rating than for the clergy, journalists and business
executives.

Moreover, although pediatricians are confronting an increasing number of vaccine-hesitant parents, the majority of the
U.S. public still wants them engaged in the issue. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (73%) believe
(http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/02/02/vast-majority-of-americans-say-benefits-of-childhood-vaccines-outweigh-risks/) that
medical scientists should have a major role in policy decisions related to childhood vaccines.

Mark Strauss (http://www.pewresearch.org/author/mstrauss/) is a writer/editor

focusing on science and society at Pew Research Center.
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