Researchers examine if online physician reviews indicate clinical outcomes

Sumary of Researchers examine if online physician reviews indicate clinical outcomes:

• 23 in Information Systems Research, Lahiri and his colleagues examined the relationship between online reviews of physicians and their patients’ actual clinical outcomes..
• They wanted to know how much consumers can rely on the reviews, specifically in regard to chronic-disease care..
• Add the fact that a person with a chronic disease may see several physicians over years, and that various social and economic factors oftentimes influence chronic-disease treatment outcomes, it becomes apparent that writing accurate reviews is even more challenging for a patient, Lahiri said..
• “Naturally, one ought to ask, ‘Are chronic-disease patients capable of writing reviews that can inform prospective patients about the true care quality provided by a physician?'”.
• For the study, the researchers examined 10 years of COPD patient admission-discharge data for hospitals in North Texas, tracking each patient’s clinical journey spanning multiple physicians..
• For chronic diseases, the study found that online reviews do not reliably indicate the quality of care provided by a physician, as measured in terms of readmission risk and other similar broadly accepted clinical outcomes….

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From ScienceDaily - November 10, 2020May 9, 2021