Preventive health care generally refers to those doctor visits you make when you’re healthy. The point is to stay on top of your health so you can avoid, or catch early, any complications. Yet, according to a new survey from digital health platform ZocDoc, 80 percent of Americans are too busy to opt for preventive coverage. If they do have the time, they forgo coverage anyway because it’s too complicated and hard to understand.

ZocDoc administered the online survey just this past May to 2,183 Americans ages 18 and over. In addition to that 80 percent holding off on preventive care, nine out of 10 parents are holding off on their own health care; women more likely to do so than men. And half of millennials visit the doctor less than once a year. This is partly due to how easy it is to consult Dr. Google (or Dr. Facebook) and self-diagnose on the Internet.

Those surveyed placed their finances, careers, family, friends, even their parents over their doctor. It's easier to keep up with things like, career goals and family obligations. In a press release, Dr. Oliver Kharraz, ZocDoc founder and president, said the "research raises questions about the needs of the modern patient and the state of personal health care management in a digital world."

"There's an important health care debate happening in Washington, but we're missing the conversation on Main Street — where patients are struggling to simply find the right doctor and make and keep appointments, amidst family and work obligations,” Kharraz added. "Instead of the empowered consumer that we're used to, in the role of patient, many Americans are passively engaging with healthcare."

See the infographic below for more of ZocDoc's survey results.

ZocDoc
Why Americans are opting out of preventive care. ZocDoc