Abstract:

Individuals, whether for themselves or their relatives, want to entrust themselves or their relatives to reliable physicians when their health deteriorates. However, the most challenging process for patients and their relatives begins here. Because, when it comes to health, it is very difficult to find and choose a reliable doctor whom they have never experienced before. At this stage, the doctor's professional experience, age, academic title, hospital, etc. criteria influence patients' choices and they vary from patient to patient. Especially today, with the developing technology, patients and their relatives can access information quickly and easily, and this situation further expands the criteria range of patients in choosing a physician. In addition, when evaluated in terms of competition in the health sector, physician selection criteria are as important for physicians and hospital organisations as they are for patients because knowing the criteria that patients attach importance to in the selection of physicians is of great importance for physicians and hospital administrations within the scope of health service marketing. In this context, the aim of the study is to determine the criteria that patients attach importance to in the process of choosing a physician they have not experienced before, to analyze whether the preferences of the patients have changed according to the demographic structures of the patients with the data obtained from the survey results, and to contribute to hospital managements and physicians in terms of health service marketing.

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