Patients' evaluations of health care providers in the era of social networking: an analysis of physician-rating websites.
BACKGROUND
Internet-based social networking tools that allow users to share content have enabled a new form of public reporting of physician performance: the physician-rating website.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the structure and content of physician-rating websites and to assess the extent to which a patient might find them valuable.


METHODS
We searched Google for websites that allowed patients to review physicians in the US. We included websites that met predetermined criteria, identified common elements of these websites, and recorded website characteristics. We then searched the websites for reviews of a random sample of 300 Boston physicians. Finally, we separately analyzed quantitative and narrative reviews.


RESULTS
We identified 33 physician-rating websites, which contained 190 reviews for 81 physicians. Most reviews were positive (88%). Six percent were negative, and six percent were neutral. Generalists and subspecialists did not significantly differ in number or nature of reviews. We identified several narrative reviews that appeared to be written by the physicians themselves.


CONCLUSIONS
Physician-rating websites offer patients a novel way to provide feedback and obtain information about physician performance. Despite controversy surrounding these sites, their use by patients has been limited to date, and a majority of reviews appear to be positive.
Lagu
Tara
T
Center for Quality of Care Research, Baystate Medical Center, 280 Chestnut Street, 3rd Floor, Springfield, MA 01199, USA. lagutc@gmail.com
Hannon
Nicholas S
NS
Rothberg
Michael B
MB
Lindenauer
Peter K
PK
D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012944:Social Support
J Gen Intern Med. 2008 Oct;23(10):1642-6
18649110
BMJ. 2009 Mar 17;338:b1033
19293224
N Engl J Med. 2008 Oct 30;359(18):1921-31
18971493
BMC Health Serv Res. 2006 Feb 28;6:21
16507096
BMJ. 2009 Mar 17;338:b1030
19293223
Health Info Libr J. 2007 Mar;24(1):2-23
17331140
Health Aff (Millwood). 2008 Nov-Dec;27(6):1680-7
18997226
Ann Fam Med. 2008 Mar-Apr;6(2):107-15
18332402
Health Serv Res. 2005 Aug;40(4):957-77
16033487