Why do people choose a particular hospital? The reputation of its physicians came in first among all respondents (at 29 per cent) of the AmerisourceBergen Index. This was even more important to people in the Northeastern United States and 18-to-24-year-olds, who chose this in far greater numbers. Accepting an insurance plan came in second, at 24 per cent for all respondents and 32 per cent in the North Central region. This was followed by a strong patient safety record (15 per cent), clean, hygienic facility (12 per cent), and nonprofit status (3 per cent). Sixteen per cent said all these factors played a role in determining their choice of a particular hospital.
In ranking the top health issues that hospitals should focus on in 2004 cancer led the list, followed by diabetes, heart disease, obesity and AIDS. Diabetes was of much greater concern to adults 55-to-64 than among the general population and AIDS was more important to 18-to-34-year-olds. Bioterrorism and SARS were ranked last, with only 5 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, selecting these as top health issues.
Barcode scanning systems, which scan medications and patient identification bracelets at hospital bedsides to verify patients are receiving the correct medications, were the top choice for preventing medication errors in the latest AmerisourceBergen Index.
Thirty-nine per cent of respondents selected bar code scanning systems over computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems that allow physicians to enter prescriptions via handheld computers. CPOE was selected by one quarter of those surveyed. Greater use of automated technologies to count pills and check prescriptions before they are dispensed came in next at 15 per cent. Thirteen per cent of respondents said all three of these methods were the best way to reduce medication errors.
In another question, nearly three-quarters of respondents said government should require hospitals to adopt new technologies if they have been proven to reduce medication errors. These technologies also scored high in a question about what would have the most impact on patient safety in hospitals. Technologies that reduce the potential for human error by verifying and checking medications almost tied with the top choice - hiring more doctors and nurses. The other two options for impacting patient safety - higher salaries for healthcare workers and increasing government regulation - lagged far behind.
As one might expect in a survey about health systems technologies there were age, geographical and gender differences. Younger respondents and men tended to favor new technologies without cost concerns and were more solidly in favor of communicating with physicians via e-mail for instance, while older respondents and women tended to prefer personal interaction over technologies and electronic communication.
The AmerisourceBergen Index is a survey of trends, purchasing behaviors and opinions about pharmacists and their customers. The current survey of 1020 adults was conducted by telephone from November 28-30, 2003 by Opinion Research Corporation on behalf of AmerisourceBergen.
AmerisourceBergen is the largest pharmaceutical services company in the United States dedicated solely to the pharmaceutical supply chain. It is the leading distributor of pharmaceutical products and services to the hospital systems/acute care market, physician's offices, alternate care and mail order facilities, independent community pharmacies, and regional chain pharmacies.