Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Oct 16, 2019
Date Accepted: Feb 12, 2020
Association between online physician ratings and physician disciplinary convictions
ABSTRACT
Background:
Physician rating websites are commonly used by the public, yet the relationship between online physician ratings and healthcare quality is not well understood.
Objective:
We used physician disciplinary convictions as an extreme marker for poor physician quality, and investigated whether disciplined physicians have lower ratings than non-disciplined matched controls.
Methods:
Retrospective national observational study of all disciplined physicians (Canada; 2000-2013; n=751). We searched online ratings (2005-2015) from the country’s leading online physician rating website for this group plus 751 physician controls matched on gender, specialty, practice years and location, and compared overall ratings (out of a possible score of 5) as well as mean ratings by type of misconduct. We also compared ratings for each type of misconduct and punishment.
Results:
There were 62.7% (471/751) convicted and disciplined physicians (“cases”) with online ratings versus 64.6% (485/751) for non-disciplined physicians (“controls”). Of 312 matched case-control pairs, disciplined physicians were rated lower than controls overall (3.62 vs. 4.00, P<0.001). Disciplined physicians had lower online ratings for all types of misconduct and punishment—except for physicians disciplined for sexual offenses (n=90 pairs; 3.83 vs. 3.86, P=0.81). Sexual misconduct was the only category in which mean ratings were higher than other disciplined physicians (3.63 vs 3.35, P=0.003).
Conclusions:
Physicians convicted for disciplinary misconduct generally had lower online ratings. Physicians convicted of sexual misconduct did not have lower ratings, and were rated higher than other disciplined physicians. These findings may have future implications for identification of physicians providing poor quality care. Clinical Trial: N/A
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