Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26404452›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2015

A cross-sectional study assessing the association between online ratings and structural and quality of care measures: results from two German physician rating websites.

Martin Emmert, Thomas Adelhardt, Uwe Sander, Veit Wambach, Jörg Lindenthal

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
9.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Visibility Versus Privacy of Physicians in the Age of Social Media.Interactive journal of medical research · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Martin EmmertFriedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, School of Business and Economics, Institute of Management (IFM), Lange Gasse 20, 90403, Nuremberg, Germany. martin.emmert@fau.de.
Thomas AdelhardtChair of Health Management, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, School of Business and Economics, Institute of Management (IFM), Lange Gasse 20, 90403, Nuremberg, Germany. thomas.adelhardt@fau.de.
Uwe SanderUniversity of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hannover, Germany. Uwe.Sander@hs-hannover.de.
Veit WambachIntegrated Healthcare Network "Quality and Efficiency" (QuE eG), Nuremberg, Vogelsgarten 1, 90402, Nuremberg, Germany. info@drwambach.de.
Jörg LindenthalIntegrated Healthcare Network "Quality and Efficiency" (QuE eG), Nuremberg, Vogelsgarten 1, 90402, Nuremberg, Germany. Joerg.Lindenthal@que-nuernberg.de.
Hochschule Hannover · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEven though physician rating websites (PRWs) have been gaining in importance in both practice and research, little evidence is available on the association of patients' online ratings with the quality of care of physicians. It thus remains unclear whether patients should rely on these ratings when selecting a physician. The objective of this study was to measure the association between online ratings and structural and quality of care measures for 65 physician practices from the German Integrated Health Care Network "Quality and Efficiency" (QuE).

methodsOnline reviews from two German PRWs were included which covered a three-year period (2011 to 2013) and included 1179 and 991 ratings, respectively. Information for 65 QuE practices was obtained for the year 2012 and included 21 measures related to structural information (N = 6), process quality (N = 10), intermediate outcomes (N = 2), patient satisfaction (N = 1), and costs (N = 2). The Spearman rank coefficient of correlation was applied to measure the association between ratings and practice-related information.

resultsPatient satisfaction results from offline surveys and the patients per doctor ratio in a practice were shown to be significantly associated with online ratings on both PRWs. For one PRW, additional significant associations could be shown between online ratings and cost-related measures for medication, preventative examinations, and one diabetes type 2-related intermediate outcome measure. There again, results from the second PRW showed significant associations with the age of the physicians and the number of patients per practice, four process-related quality measures for diabetes type 2 and asthma, and one cost-related measure for medication.

conclusionsSeveral significant associations were found which varied between the PRWs. Patients interested in the satisfaction of other patients with a physician might select a physician on the basis of online ratings. Even though our results indicate associations with some diabetes and asthma measures, but not with coronary heart disease measures, there is still insufficient evidence to draw strong conclusions. The limited number of practices in our study may have weakened our findings.

Indexed as

InternetPatient SatisfactionQuality of Health CareSurveys and QuestionnairesCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedPhysiciansQuality Indicators, Health Care

Identifiers

PMID26404452
PMCPMC4582723
OpenAlexW2160817070

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.