Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

The Social Life of Health Information

Hospitals or other medical facilities

38% of internet users look online for information about hospitals or other medical facilities.

Some 38% of internet users, or 28% of adults, go online in search of information about hospitals or medical facilities.

Of those adults seeking hospital information online, 45% have consulted online rankings or reviews of hospitals or other medical facilities. About one-fifth (20%) of all internet users have looked at online rankings or reviews of medical facilities. Additionally, 9% of hospital information seekers (just 3% of internet users) actively posted their own review of a hospital or medical facility.

Hospitals

Demographics

Certain demographic groups are more likely than others to search online for information about hospitals or other medical facilities. In particular, women, younger internet users, and those with higher education and income levels tend to be more likely to turn to the internet for information about medical facilities.

Some 41% of online women look for information about hospitals online, while 34% of online men do so.

Internet users under the age of 50 are considerably more likely than adults aged 50 and older to look for hospital information online. Within the older cohort, 50-64 year olds are significantly more likely than seniors to look online for information about medical facilities. Forty-six percent of internet users age 18-29 and 40% of internet users age 30-49 have looked online for information about medical facilities, compared with 32% of internet users age 50-64 and just one-fifth (20%) of wired seniors.

Internet users with more education and those living in higher-income households are also significantly more likely than other groups to look for hospital or medical facility information online.

Hospitals or other medical facilities

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