Perception gap of medical information services by hospitals and medical service consumers.

This survey showed differences in how medical information is perceived by consumers and hospital administrators (chief administrators and managers). The same questions were asked of consumers and hospitals. The consumer subjects of the survey were normal males and females 15 to 65 years old living within a radius of 30 km of central Tokyo. The extraction method was a survey questionnaire, which was made available to visiting survey staff, and comprised a layered two-tier extraction from the public resident registry. A total of 1665 subjects participated during the survey period from June 28 to July 11, 2001. Questionnaires distributed to hospitals represented how they imagined patients perceived medical information. Survey subjects were chief administrators and managers of member hospitals of the Japan Hospital Association (2621 facilities). The survey method was an anonymous questionnaire mailed to 2621 facilities (two per facility) on October 18, 2001. Significant differences in perception were found in the inadequacy of medical information and methods of providing medical information.