Why Online Doctor Ratings are Good Medicine

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A growing number of health consumers are consulting online physician-rating sites when choosing doctors even if the value of those sites – whether they’re reliable sources for information, or capable of driving improvements in health care – is in dispute. Some studies have shown how letting patients grade their doctors can lead to over-testing and over-treatment as doctors, hoping to improve their scores, bend to unreasonable patient demands. But a new study in the December issue of Academic Medicine bolsters research linking good patient satisfaction scores with good patient outcomes. And it sheds light on another, unspoken benefit by showing how openly sharing patient satisfaction metrics created a culture of empathy, communication, trust and shared decision make between patients and providers at a health system in Utah: University of Utah Health Care (UUHC). To read more, click here

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