Comparing the Impact of Online Ratings and Report Cards on Patient Choice of Cardiac Surgeon: Large Observational Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patients may use two information sources about a health care provider's quality: online physician reviews, which are written by patients to reflect their subjective experience, and report cards, which are based on objective health outcomes.

Objective

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of online ratings on patient choice of cardiac surgeon compared to that of report cards.

Methods

We obtained ratings from a leading physician review platform, Vitals; report card scores from Pennsylvania Cardiac Surgery Reports; and information about patients' choices of surgeons from inpatient records on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries done in Pennsylvania from 2008 to 2017. We scraped all reviews posted on Vitals for surgeons who performed CABG sur

SUBMITTER: Li X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8587194 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature