Patients rarely use online ratings to pick physicians

Although more than 80% of the state's adults turn to the Internet for health-related information, less than one-quarter have looked at physician ratings sites, according to a poll commissioned by the California HealthCare Foundation. Only 2% of those surveyed made a change in physicians based on information posted on a rating site, the survey found. The survey also found that only 1% of respondents made a change in their hospital or health plan based on ratings sites.