Abstract

In line with the increasingly important role of patient-centered healthcare quality assessment, hospitals provide physician-rating mechanisms. The reviews collected from patients are published on providers’ websites and can be used by future patients to make informed physician choice decisions. However, inconsistencies in the satisfaction measures can make the reviews misleading and incomparable across healthcare organizations. Accordingly, the current study examines this phenomenon. Our findings showed that nearly 7% of the medical centers in the Northeastern United States published patients’ reviews of physicians on their websites. More than 95% of these organizations adapted either the instrument developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) or an extended version of it offered by Press Ganey Associates. We also observed major differences in the types and number of satisfaction measures used by different hospitals. Our findings have implications for patients, healthcare providers, and government agencies such as the AHRQ.

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A Study of the Measures Used in Hospital-Prompted Patient Reviews of Physicians

In line with the increasingly important role of patient-centered healthcare quality assessment, hospitals provide physician-rating mechanisms. The reviews collected from patients are published on providers’ websites and can be used by future patients to make informed physician choice decisions. However, inconsistencies in the satisfaction measures can make the reviews misleading and incomparable across healthcare organizations. Accordingly, the current study examines this phenomenon. Our findings showed that nearly 7% of the medical centers in the Northeastern United States published patients’ reviews of physicians on their websites. More than 95% of these organizations adapted either the instrument developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) or an extended version of it offered by Press Ganey Associates. We also observed major differences in the types and number of satisfaction measures used by different hospitals. Our findings have implications for patients, healthcare providers, and government agencies such as the AHRQ.