Do consumers use information to choose a health-care provider system?

This study examines the use of information by employees in the Buyers Healt h Care Action Group, a purchasing coalition of large employers in Minneapol is. BHCAG employers contract directly with multiple health-care provider sy stems and attempt to inform employees about those choices, shortly after th e close of the 1998 open-enrollment period, a survey of 927 BHCAG employees with single-coverage health insurance was conducted. seventy-six percent o f the employees relied on information from their employer when selecting th eir current care system. Use of information from the employer was positivel y related to education and years of residence in the Twin Cities. Previous experience with doctors and hospitals in the care system also was a common information source. Older and low-income workers were more likely to use in formation from advertisements. The survey results suggest that employers ca n predict which information sources their employees will use.