(www.ratemds.com)
Consumers increasingly turn to commercial physician-rating websites, similar to those for restaurants and hotels, when searching for a new doctor, but the sites rarely have information that actually helps patients. “Consumers should still be careful about what they view on these sites,” says David Hanauer, an associate professor at the Medical School and the School of Information. A new study finds that most doctors typically have no more than a few reviews on a site, and the reviews often don’t provide good insight into the doctor’s qualifications, personality, or the patient experience. “It’s hard to know what is real, and it’s hard to make a fair assessment with so few ratings,” says Hanauer, who wasn’t involved with the current study. “If consumers use these sites, they should visit multiple sites to get a more complete picture before making any decisions.”
