The poll, sponsored by The MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, found that the desire for more information is particularly strong among Americans earning $35,000 to $75,000 per year. Out of those middle-income households, 77 percent said they wished they had better information to help choose a doctor or hospital.

As a subsidiary of HealthMarkets, MEGA is a leading provider of affordable health and life insurance to the self-employed, individuals and small businesses.

More than half (56 percent) think their regular doctor provides them with above average care. Only 3 percent say below average. Hospitals drew similarly high marks. Out of those with personal or family experience in a hospital in the past five years, more than half (54 percent) say the care provided was above average. Only 9 percent said below average.

“Most patients clearly think highly of their doctor or hospital, ” said Peter Gaillard, HealthMarkets Vice President of Product Development. “At the same time, there ’s a strong desire for more and better information. That ’s why at MEGA we are rolling out plans that provide informational tools to help consumers make health care decisions. ”

Certain MEGA plans also offer consumers a range of online healthcare information and tools from WebMD (http://www.webmdhealthservices.com). This information can help a consumer to compare hospitals, for example. They can see a profile that offers ratings on patient safety practices, the number of times a hospital has performed a given procedure and whether complication rates have been above or below average.

The poll found that the most important factors in judging hospitals are respondents ’ own observations about how the hospital treats patients (79 percent said this was very important), the hospital ’s history of mistakes (78 said this was very important), and how often it has performed a procedure (68 percent said this was very important).

The most important factors in choosing a doctor are his or her ability to clearly explain things, a respondent ’s own experience with the physician, whether the physician is board certified and whether the doctor has been disciplined by a hospital or government agency. Slightly less important are whether a doctor is part of the respondent ’s insurance network and whether the doctor has been sued for malpractice. Less important were recommendations, location and credentials.

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted among a sample of 1,043 adults (530 men and 513 women) 18 years of age and older, in the continental United States. Interviews were weighted by four variables: age, sex, geographic region, and race, to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total adult population. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for the entire sample. Smaller sub-groups will have larger error margins.