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 Researchers found 59 percent of people said those
physician-rating sites were at least "somewhat important" when
choosing a doctor.
"The numbers were actually substantially higher than just a few
years ago," Dr. David Hanauer said.
He is the study's lead author from the University of Michigan
Medical School in Ann Arbor.
"The usage is increasing over time," Hanauer said. "We need to be
aware that these sites are being used. I think there are still valid
concerns whether these sites are trustworthy."
Most previous research on websites that allow anyone to post reviews
of doctors focused on what people say, the researchers write in the
Journal of the American Medical Association. Few studies have looked
at who is on the receiving end of that information.
For the new study, Hanauer and his colleagues used data from surveys
conducted in September 2012. The surveys asked more than 2,000
people of various ages and ethnicities what they thought of
doctor-rating sites.
Those sites include Healthgrades.com, Vitals.com and RateMDs.com,
for instance.
Overall, 65 percent of the participants said they were aware that
doctor-rating sites exist. That was less than the 87 percent who
knew there were sites that rate cars and the 81 percent who knew
there were sites that rate restaurants.
Of those who were aware of sites where users rate and review
doctors, 19 percent said they had gone to one of the websites during
the past year and 17 percent had done so more than once.
The vast majority of people who did visit those sites said the
information was at least "somewhat useful."
The researchers also found that 40 percent of the participants said
the reviews and ratings on the websites were "somewhat important"
when choosing a doctor. Another 19 percent said they were "very
important" in that process.
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The most important factor when picking a doctor was
whether the provider accepted a participant's insurance.
Dr. Tara Lagu of Baystate Medical Center in Springfield,
Massachusetts, told Reuters Health that an increase in awareness and
reviews will be good for doctors, because one bad review out of two
is worse than one bad review out of 50. "I think we
should realize that these products are here to stay and doctors are
just going to learn to live with them and there are ways to deal
with them that are better than others," Lagu said.
She was not involved with the new research, but has studied the
content of reviews left on doctor-rating websites.
"I understand some of the concerns, but as I said I think the vast
majority of the reviews tend to be fair and positive," Lagu said.
Hanauer said it will be important to understand who posts reviews
and whether those reviews are accurate, because the actions people
take based on them may have consequences.
"If you pick a bad restaurant, you may not enjoy your meal," he
said. "But if you pick a bad doctor, that may affect your health."
___
Source: http://bit.ly/WddS8K
Journal of the American Medical Association, online Feb. 18,
2014.
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reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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