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According to our survey, patients and physicians have very different opinions regarding the effectiveness of patient ratings. More than half of patients believe ratings are helpful, compared with only around 5 percent of doctors. Around one-third of patients say they are ineffective, compared with around 18 percent of doctors. Surprisingly, over half of doctors believe patient ratings are downright futile, but only about 9 percent of patients agree.
It’s clear from our survey that physicians aren’t fully aware of the prevalence of participation in patient rating systems. Over half of physicians believe less than a quarter of their patients have participated in a rating system. However, nearly half of patients in our survey report they have used a rating system. The good news? Only around a quarter of patients say they gave their physician a negative rating.
The effectiveness and the fairness of patient ratings have long been debated. Critics point out that physicians who receive bad reviews are put in an impossible situation: in most cases, they must endure negative ratings quietly, as patient privacy regulations prevent them from offering a rebuttal. However, not all physicians are willing to stay silent. In some cases, care providers have filed lawsuits to battle poor ratings. Others have hired reputation-management services to combat the crisis. These companies take steps such as responding to negative reviews and soliciting positive ratings.
See the next report: Patient Ratings and Physicians’ Earnings
