By Matt Kuhrt
The biggest problem with online reviews for doctors may be that there aren't enough of them. Rather than treating such reviews with scorn or fear, doctors and patients would both likely benefit if practices were to encourage patients to comment more extensively on them, according to an article from Reuters.
A new study out from the Journal of the American Medical Association looks at reviews posted on Yelp and ZocDoc to tease out trends and gauge the utility of the information. In general, the results match up with previous studies that suggest relatively high overall scores for doctors, with an average of 3.6 of five stars among the surveyed practices.
From a practice perspective, the real utility of the data lies in qualitative themes. Interestingly, JAMA reports: "Themes that emerged from the high-scoring and low-scoring reviews were similar in content but opposite in valence." In other words, whether patients had a positive experience or a negative one, the most important aspects of the experience remained consistent.
In general, patients sought good temperament, knowledge and competency from physicians, as well as good communication and a sense that doctors keep cost in mind when recommending treatment. At the practice level, patients tend to be interested in a smooth scheduling process, pleasing temperament of staff members and the overall neatness and cleanliness of the office.
Bearing this in mind, doctors can use patient feedback on review sites to fine-tune their practices. However, the study warns, doctors need to be sure the number of reviews is high enough for a representative sample. The authors suggest doctors encourage all patients to leave reviews, in order to generate greater transparency between the practice and the patients.
In looking at the issue from a patient perspective, the American Medical Association strikes a more cautionary tone about drawing conclusions from online review data. "Choosing a physician is more complicated than choosing a good restaurant," the organization said in a statement provided to Reuters Health. "Patients owe it to themselves to use the best available resources when making this important decision."
To learn more:
- peruse the JAMA study
- read the article from Reuters