Physician Rating Websites: What Aspects Are Important to Identify a Good Doctor, and Are Patients Capable of Assessing Them? A Mixed-Methods Approach Including Physicians' and Health Care Consumers' Perspectives.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Physician rating websites (PRWs) offer health care consumers the opportunity to evaluate their doctor anonymously. However, physicians' professional training and experience create a vast knowledge gap in medical matters between physicians and patients. This raises ethical concerns about the relevance and significance of health care consumers' evaluation of physicians' performance.

Objective

To identify the aspects physician rating websites should offer for evaluation, this study investigated the aspects of physicians and their practice relevant for identifying a good doctor, and whether health care consumers are capable of evaluating these aspects.

Methods

In a first step, a Delphi study with physicians from 4 specializations was conducted, testing various

SUBMITTER: Rothenfluh F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5432667 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature