Archetype One-Pagers
How the user starts thinking about the selection process to find/establish care —
Location-focus
Users with a location preference rank convenience and proximity among their two most important determinants when deciding where and who to see superseded only by insurance coverage. Compared to users with a doctor preference, this group values ease of task completion (appointing or selecting care) over other intangibles such as comfort level with a doctor.
(6 out of 10 users mentioned wanting to choose a location close to home or work for convenience of proximity.)
“We live pretty far from town, so it was like the closest place that I could actually go and establish a primary care doctor. That was really mainly my biggest thing because I think we lived like the closest town was like 30 miles away.”
“I go by just location because, especially if there's an emergency, I want to be able to get there as quick as I can into the closest place. Or just even for minor stuff, I don't want to drive an hour away.”
Whether completing independent research or asking for recommendations, insurance coverage is used to filter research or suggestions received.
(6 out of 10 users mentioned insurance, coverage or in-network status as a key factor when choosing a location.)
“I wanted to make sure that I was going to be covered by my insurance at this location. So that was also a big factor. Because I know that if I wasn't going to be accepted there, then I wouldn't have gone there.”
“I know that she probably will end up probably talking to people at her work and see where they're going because it'd be just easy for her to be like, "Hey, I know we have this insurance, it's close. Where do you go?" Maybe trying to get some personal experiences from that.”
This group prioritizes seeking care at the same location and will readily deviate from an established primary care doctor to see an on-call or soonest available doctor at this preferred location.
“If the doctor that I visited last time is unavailable, I will see the on-call doctor. I do not mind who I'm seeing as long as it's at the same location.”
Users without health concerns that require maintenance may fall more easily into this group, because they perceive consistency of the care provider as less important than considerations such as distance to the facility or other logistics.
“I don't go to the doctor often enough to really honestly care who's really going to take care of me or just like for these annual checkups, because they're really all the same, and they just run the same clipboard of things. For me, it doesn't really matter.”
Given this group’s affinity to choosing a location close to home or work, they follow three likely patterns to seek care
“I picked the Mukilteo because that was the closest one to me, just to show you. Then I went and did the extension view on this side and checked all to look at who was available.”
Users in this group may consider the constellation of care they can receive at a location before choosing it. (7 out of 10 users referenced locations that operate as a “hub of care” as a key reason they would choose it.)
“So, seeing what services are available at that particular location that would accommodate any type of situation that we think might arise, particularly like I said, that it's necessarily for younger kids kind of thing. You've got to check off those boxes, great, got a walk -n urgent care, great, got an emergency room, outpatient treatment, things like that.”
Users with a location preference do distinguish between primary and specialty care. While proximity is important, this group remains willing to drive to seek specialty care.
“I didn't want to drive two hours, but if someone was highly rated, I'd be fine driving two hours if need be, because it was going to be like a one time, maybe two time appointment, not a consistent place where I'd be using as kind of a mainstay.”
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Archetype designations are not “set in stone.” Users may change their preference group as this quote illustrates. Below read how a user responded to the question, ‘which is more important to you, choosing a location or a doctor first?’
“I think it's more the clinic, but in actual fact, we've ended up, we both, like I said, we both ended up now with the same doctor. We both absolutely love him and if he ever moved, then I would move with him because he's the best doctor I've ever had.”
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Provider preference
Users with a provider preference trust and communication over proximity to and the efficiency of care.
“You want a rapport with your primary care because they're like the coach of the team. They tell the other teammates what to do and how to run a play and hopefully get that win for your healthcare.”
“So I did a lot of research when that was going through my head and I would've been much more willing to go, even like I said, half hour or an hour away, even if it meant going to Seattle and having that travel expense and time to see somebody that I knew was going to take good care of me, you know?”
“I'd hate to drive across the street and settle.”
This group greatly values doctor/patient rapport and will actively look for indications of this (such as similar activities or sense of humor) when researching/comparing doctors.
“It's nice to have somebody that's the same gender as you to just talk through some of those specific things. And then almost, I like some of the more just conversational type stuff about these people. “Oh he likes to play golf,” or, “Oh he likes to read,” because again, it's like, “Hey, could you look at this wart?” You want to have something to break the ice, and so the more that those, and I see it more and more frequently now. They give you a lot of information about the doctors and even, oh their family, how many kids they have, and where they live, and I think it's pretty cool.”
These users value comfort and communication style of the doctor above the speed of the appointment.
User with a provider preference are more likely to reflect on the experience interacting with a particular provider to determine whether they will consider him/her/them for a future visit.
“We basically hit it off, which is really great because I like it when somebody listens to you but they are also analyzing your symptoms and I like it when they take their time but they also know they're on a schedule as well, but at the same time, I know that they only have like 15 minutes.”
“So, when my husband ended up going to see somebody that turned out to be his PCP, I was like well what do you think of her because I really need to find somebody and I don't want to go back to who I was seeing before for the same reasons of there just wasn't a good strong relationship. He raved about his new PCP and I was like okay, show me her profile so I can at least get an idea of what she looks like, maybe get a little information about her and I'll go check her out as well if and when I need to go see her.”
Like users with a location preference, insurance is still used as a filter for care recommendations or as the place where users begin to search for a doctor.
(6 out of 10 users started their search for a doctor or location on the insurance website.)
“So initially, I looked at the doctors that are available to me according to my insurance plan, and then I Googled each doctor, and try to find reviews for them.”
“I used my insurance, and I looked up providers from there, and then I opened up a separate screen and read reviews to see what reviews that they got.”
“Again, it's got to be whoever is available to me within Aetna so I've got to start there. I'm going to go on the Aetna site and pull up what might be available. Again, I'm going to look within a particular radius. Having done that, there's a lot available. If I'm looking to stay within 10 miles of where I am, I'll get a pretty extensive list of general practitioners or family doctors on the Aetna website.”
Similar to users with a location preference, users with a provider preference still consider the constellation of care that can be provided. The difference? They approach it through the lens of care provided by that provider rather than at that location.
“Then I remember my other thought process was, ‘okay, what else do they cover if I need any further testing? Say if something were to happen and I would need further care.’”
Users in this group will engage in moderate to significant research to select a doctor.
(9 out of 10 users explicitly referenced looking at doctor bios when they made a decision about who to choose as a doctor.)
(8 out of 10 users referenced looking at or wishing for reviews in their process to find a doctor.)
“So I did a lot of research when that was going through my head and I would've been much more willing to go, even like I said, half hour or an hour away, even if it meant going to Seattle and having that travel expense and time to see somebody that I knew was going to take good care of me, you know?”
“I think I found some reviews of her and they were... I didn't find anything negative. Everything seemed really positive, so that's always good, isn't it?”
Users in this group also value consistency, rather than consistency of location, they value consistency of provider.
"Speaking definitely from the past, usually when I find someone, I look for quality in a provider because I want to stay with them, I don't want to hop around. Yes, I generally tend to stay. Looking this time, I was looking for someone who had a medical group, so if I had to go to a specialty, it was under one umbrella.”
Users in this group are more willing to sacrifice the modern features and amenities in lieu of a strong relationship with their doctor.
“I'd rather have it with someone that I like and that I feel comfortable with rather than have some doctor that doesn't feel right. Even though it's in a really nice modern setting or whatever that would be that's nice about the location. I'd rather have someone that I have a good personal connection with and feel comfortable with and trust.”
Users may opt for the provider preference more readily if they have knowledge that an abundance of doctors exists within the geographic area where they are comfortable seeking care.
“To me, there shouldn't be any reason why I'd have to go traveling 25 miles to go a doctor. Like I said, there are a lot of doctors, particularly in the area that we live in so I have no concerns about finding somebody that I think would be reasonable and adequate within even a five-mile distance. It's almost a given that I'm going to find somebody that will suit my needs and we'll be within a comfortable
distance.”
Availability focus
Note: Additional interviews over time will be required to more fully understand this archetype.
Users with an availability focus highly value efficiency in process and task completion. They will seek care with the provider at the location (covered by their insurance) where they can be seen the soonest.
Time and schedule sensitivity are the primary drivers for this user group. This group does not value consistency with the person or at a particular care location. These users are highly task-motivated and generally singularly task-focused — i.e. this group cares most about completely the task at hand and cares little about the other offerings provided by a person or place.
“So this last person, right, I didn't have any relationship so it was going to be a new person. So I go to logistics, which at the end of the year ended up being which dermatologist could I see this month because there weren't a lot of options. I actually ended up in a location I would have never chosen but he was available. And I really liked him. And so actually if I want to go see another dermatologist I would probably go there because I know him. But let's say I was not impressed. Then I would go back to the logistics thing.”
This group also may be more likely to seek out urgent care if offered at the location they have chosen rather than wait to see an available primary care doctor. If scheduling, this group may opt to leave doctor selection up to chance scheduling with the first available. If referred for specialty care that does not align with the user’s expected time table, they may be more likely to follow-up to investigate other options and seek approval with their insurance.
“So when he was referred initially for his care, the appointment that he was given was to go to somewhere in Olympia and the appointment to see a surgeon, a specialist was like months and months out. We thought that was ridiculous because he was having so many problems, he was having numbness in his face and all that kind of thing. I followed that out personally and I had to do some research and I ended up contacting a couple of the hospitals up in Seattle and saying, "What kind of wait list do you have?" They had a much shorter wait list, so we ended up having his appointment transferred up there rather than going to see a specialist. I think it was Olympia, so we got his wait list cut down. But I had to do that, not my doctor.”
Perks or amenities may sway this user, but neither is their primary decision-driver.