A recent survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicates that Americans disagree that information regarding healthcare quality is readily available. Additionally, survey respondents also do not trust information sources that reveal such information.

There is a clear divide in how experts and consumers define what being a quality healthcare provider entails. The majority of Americans evaluate the doctor-patient relationship and interactions that occur in the office rather than how effective treatments are or what their own health outcomes are.

Survey respondents indicate that they place a higher value on provider quality than cost and are willing to pay a higher price for higher-quality doctors, although few patients actually admitted to doing so.

The survey also indicates that those who do not have insurance face additional challenges when it comes to finding provider quality and cost information.

According to the NORC website, the U.S. spends over two and half times more money on health care than the majority of developed countries around the world.

Additionally, a recent government report indicates that 30 percent of suggested health care in the U.S. is not received and that there are vast disparities in quality of health care for minorities and those in poverty, as well as great variations by region.