Spine surgeons are more likely to receive favorable online reviews for factors related to outcomes, physician likeability and character, according to an observational study in Spine.
Here are five things to know:
1. The study authors evaluated patient feedback and satisfaction scores of spine surgeons using comments from Healthgrades.com, Vitals.com and Google.com.
2. The researchers used the North American Spine Society membership directory to identify 210 spine surgeons practicing in Florida with online comments available for review, yielding 4,701 patient comments.
3. Comments were categorized according to three subjects:
- Surgeon competence
- Surgeon likeability/character
- Office staff, ease of scheduling, office environment (surgeon-independent comments)
4. Researchers found favorable comments and ratings were associated with surgeon-dependent comments, such as a surgeon's knowledge and charisma.
5. Negative reviews were significantly more likely to be based on ancillary staff interactions, billing and office environment.
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