Most of us by now are used to being able to research all kinds of businesses using review sites online such as Foursquare, Yelp and Google Reviews. Americans like to share their experiences on everything from restaurants to tow truck services. Often, consumers, including your employees, use the experiences of others to inform their own buying decisions.
The same goes for consumers researching doctors, according to a recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Statistics show that online research has transformed the way we shop for cars and houses, and now, about 25% of American consumers use online physician reviews to find new doctors. And that number is growing.
While these review sites have their limitations — especially when it comes to assessing health care — they can provide important and useful information about the practice. The best of them will make it easy for you to research education and credentialing information, whether the health care provider accepts Medicaid or Medicare, office hours, as well as any record of complaints or discipline from the state medical licensing board.
Not all doctor review sites are created equal, however. An organization called the Informed Patient Institute (IPI) tracks and rates doctor review sites in every state. Each doctor or hospital review site is evaluated for timeliness, presentation, content and ease of use, and receives a letter grade between "A" and "F." The IPI also considers any unique criteria, positive or negative, that may make a site more or less useful to consumers in assigning the letter grade. If the usual criteria simply don't apply to a given site, the IPI will assign a letter grade of U for "unique."
Among the highest scoring review sites, according to the IPI, are:
Out of the list of common for-profit physician review resources operating nationwide, the IPI assigned a "C" grade to both RateMDs.com and the WebMD Physician Directory.
The IPI's database is state specific. To use the site, log on to the grading page, select your state and the type of information you're looking for. You can choose nursing home report cards, hospital report cards or doctor report cards.
Critics of doctor rating sites say that some of the reviews can be misleading. Patients could be unhappy with their doctors for any number of reasons that aren't related to that physician's medical competence, such as the refusal to prescribe an addictive narcotic, or to authorize what the doctor deems to be a needless referral or test. Or a physician might be the best surgeon in town but not have great bedside manners. An upset patient could lead to a bad online review — even though the doctor may have done the right thing from a medical point of view.
So take these sites with a grain of salt and do your own due diligence on your doctor, clinic or hospital. In some cases you might be better off to ask people you know and trust for a good referral. Or ask someone in the health care profession rather than rely on the opinions of strangers who might have an ax to grind.
Get in touch today and find out how we can help you meet your objectives.
