Many websites enable users to enter reviews and rankings about specific physicians. This information can be obtained for free, or patients can pay to obtain a more in-depth report about the physician. Some of the websites access various databases to display further information about board certification, residency, and any disciplinary action. Many physician-rating websites provide users with basic information about the physician such as years in practice and contact information. A separate study found that 15% of consumers compare hospitals before making a selection, and 30% of consumers compare physicians online before making a selection. In fact, in the United States, 47% looked up information about their providers online, 37% consulted physician-rating sites, and 7% of people who sought information about their provider posted a review online. Patients are seeking information not only about disease conditions but also about physicians and hospitals. In 2010, 88% of adult Americans used the Internet to search for health-related information. Conducting a qualitative analysis to compare the quantitative ratings would help validate the rating instruments used to evaluate physicians. The optimal content and rating method that is useful to patients when visiting online physician-rating sites deserves further study. A single overall rating to evaluate physicians may be sufficient to assess a patient’s opinion of the physician. 001).Ĭonclusions: Most patients give physicians a favorable rating on online physician-rating sites. The patient’s single overall rating of the physician correlated with the other dimensions of care that were rated by patients for the same physician (Pearson correlation, r =. Depending on the scale used for each physician-rating website, the average rating was 77 out of 100 for sites using a 100-point scale (SD 11, median 76, range 33–100), 3.84 out of 5 (77%) for sites using a 5-point scale (SD 0.98, median 4, range 1–5), and 3.1 out of 4 (78%) for sites using a 4-point scale (SD 0.72, median 3, range 1–4). A total of 35 different dimensions of care were rated by patients in the websites, with a median of 4.5 (mean 4.9, SD 2.8, range 1–9) questions per site. Results: The 10 most commonly visited websites with user-generated content were, ,, YP.com,, ,, ,, and. We analyzed data from 4999 selected physician ratings without identifiers to assess how physicians are rated online. We then studied each site to evaluate the available information (eg, board certification, years in practice), the types of rating scales (eg, 1–5, 1–4, 1–100), and dimensions of care (eg, recommend to a friend, waiting room time) used to rate physicians. Methods: On October 1, 2010, using Google Trends we identified the 10 most frequently visited online physician-rating sites with user-generated content. Objectives: The goals of this study were to (1) determine the most frequently visited physician-rating websites with user-generated content, (2) evaluate the available information on these websites, and (3) analyze 4999 individual online ratings of physicians. Understanding what information is available is important given that patients may use this information to choose a physician. Online Journal of Public Health InformaticsĮmail: Many online physician-rating sites provide patients with information about physicians and allow patients to rate physicians.Asian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal 13 articles.JMIR Bioinformatics and Biotechnology 38 articles.JMIR Biomedical Engineering 73 articles.Journal of Participatory Medicine 82 articles.
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