Impact of Surgeon Gender on Online Physician Reviews.
Gender
Online reputation
Patient opinions
Skill
Journal
The Journal of surgical research
ISSN: 1095-8673
Titre abrégé: J Surg Res
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0376340
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
01 2020
01 2020
Historique:
received:
01
03
2019
revised:
16
06
2019
accepted:
17
07
2019
pubmed:
26
8
2019
medline:
15
2
2020
entrez:
26
8
2019
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
The increasing use of review websites by consumers has become a crucial first step in choosing a physician with more than half of Americans consulting review sites before physician selection. We sought to identify whether differences exist in the quality and content of online reviews for men versus women surgeons. Using a deliberate sampling algorithm of the two most populated physician review websites, RateMDs.com and Yelp.com, we purposefully sampled reviews for the top 20 surgeons per tercile from the four most populated urban areas in the United States: New York, Houston, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A grounded theory qualitative assessment was performed of major and minor thematic elements including global rating, communication, technical skills, and comments on ancillary elements. Four-hundred and thirty-one online patient reviews of 238 surgeons were identified from RateMDs.com (51%) and Yelp.com (49%) with available information on gender for analysis. Seventy-six percent of reviews were of male surgeons. Reviewers were more likely to mention a global rating and technical skill for men compared with women surgeons. Most reviews were positive with no difference in global rating by gender (83.7% positive for men and 74.3% positive for women, P = 0.08). Women surgeons were more likely to have positive comments on social interactions as compared with men (94.7% versus 88.0%, P = 0.03); whereas men surgeons were more likely to have a positive rating on technical skill compared with women (88.2% versus 76.2%, P = 0.04). The content and quality of online surgeon reviews differ by gender. There is no difference in global rating between men and women. Women are rated higher for social interaction domains and men are rated higher on technical skill domains.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
The increasing use of review websites by consumers has become a crucial first step in choosing a physician with more than half of Americans consulting review sites before physician selection. We sought to identify whether differences exist in the quality and content of online reviews for men versus women surgeons.
METHODS
Using a deliberate sampling algorithm of the two most populated physician review websites, RateMDs.com and Yelp.com, we purposefully sampled reviews for the top 20 surgeons per tercile from the four most populated urban areas in the United States: New York, Houston, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A grounded theory qualitative assessment was performed of major and minor thematic elements including global rating, communication, technical skills, and comments on ancillary elements.
RESULTS
Four-hundred and thirty-one online patient reviews of 238 surgeons were identified from RateMDs.com (51%) and Yelp.com (49%) with available information on gender for analysis. Seventy-six percent of reviews were of male surgeons. Reviewers were more likely to mention a global rating and technical skill for men compared with women surgeons. Most reviews were positive with no difference in global rating by gender (83.7% positive for men and 74.3% positive for women, P = 0.08). Women surgeons were more likely to have positive comments on social interactions as compared with men (94.7% versus 88.0%, P = 0.03); whereas men surgeons were more likely to have a positive rating on technical skill compared with women (88.2% versus 76.2%, P = 0.04).
CONCLUSIONS
The content and quality of online surgeon reviews differ by gender. There is no difference in global rating between men and women. Women are rated higher for social interaction domains and men are rated higher on technical skill domains.
Identifiants
pubmed: 31446193
pii: S0022-4804(19)30541-4
doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2019.07.047
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Comparative Study
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
510-515Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.