Medical Doctor Ratings

Study Points to Biases in Online Physician Ratings

Physicians have long argued that doctor rating websites provide biased information that does not accurately reflect the quality of care patients receive.

In a statement, the American Medical Association said, "Patient satisfaction is important to physicians, and patients should have access to credible information so they can be confident in their choice of physician, but public web forums have many shortcomings." It added, "Some allow postings to be published anonymously, and there is no guarantee that the opinions about a physician even come from that physician's patient. People may express dissatisfaction on these forums because they wanted a medication that wasn't medically necessary, or because they didn't receive a prescription or service that was delayed or denied by their insurance company."

Physicians might be partially right about biases in online ratings, but not in the way many of those doctors assumed.

A new study by researchers at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health examined the informativeness of online ratings about primary care physicians. Researchers found that low-quality physicians actually are less likely to be reviewed online. In fact, the majority of online physician ratings are very positive.

Guodong "Gordon" Gao -- an assistant professor at the University of Maryland and one of the study's authors -- noted that out of about 300,000 physicians ratings studied, half were given the highest score possible -- a five out of five.

So are physicians' concerns about patients relying on online ratings to make health care decisions -- much the same way they turn to such sites to make decisions about where to eat or book a hotel -- off base? Maybe, but maybe not.

Study Details

For the study -- titled, "The Information Value of Online Physician Ratings" -- researchers relied on several data sets, including:

The study focused on general practitioners, or family care physicians. The final data set included 1,513 physicians who had been evaluated through offline surveys and 696 doctors who had been rated online. Researchers then compared physician scores on the offline survey with the online physician ratings.

Rating Feedback for Dr. Niazi (954688) | RateMDs.com

'Don't go to this doctor if you were born and rasied in Canada! I've never been treated so poorly by a doctor EVER! I made the first appt in the morning so I wouldn't have to wait (and believe me you will wait an hour + to see her no matter what time you schedule), but that didn't work, she still went and treated 2 other patients before me. She wouldn't give me 2 Ativan pills to take with me as I get nervous flying. I went into a walk-in clinic the next day and the doctor there gave me 6 without even batting an eyelash. She wants you to come see her every other week to "build a relationship with her" regardless of whether or not there is anything wrong with you. A blatent abuse of the medical billing system. I was reprimanded for only making appts 3 times in a year, WHAT IF I WAS HEALTHY??? This doctor is NOT suited to practice in Canada. She has some pretty strange idea of how the medical world should work. Don't waste your time. Find someone good.

A practical guide for medical teachers

Medical care in a Mexican American community

Doctors talking with patients/patients talking with doctors, improving communication in medical visits

California Workers' Comp, How to Take Charge When You're Injured on the Job

Somatic Presentations of Mental Disorders, Refining the Research Agenda for DSM-V