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The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment

BACKGROUND: Physician review websites have empowered prospective patients to acquire information about physicians. However, little is known about how Web-based ratings on different aspects of a physician may affect patients’ selection of physicians differently. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this stud...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Li, Siyue, Hubner, Austin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6625218/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31254337
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11188
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author Li, Siyue
Hubner, Austin
author_facet Li, Siyue
Hubner, Austin
author_sort Li, Siyue
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Physician review websites have empowered prospective patients to acquire information about physicians. However, little is known about how Web-based ratings on different aspects of a physician may affect patients’ selection of physicians differently. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to examine (1) how patients weigh ratings on a physician’s technical skills and interpersonal skills in their selection of physicians and (2) whether and how people’s choice of a primary care physician versus a specialist is affected differently by Web-based ratings. METHODS: A 2×2×2×2 between-subjects experiment was conducted. Over 600 participants were recruited through a crowdsourcing website and randomly assigned to view a mockup physician review Web page that contained information on a physician’s basic information and patients’ ratings. After reviewing the Web page, participants were asked to complete a survey on their perceptions of the physician and willingness to seek health care from the physician. RESULTS: The results showed that participants were more willing to choose a physician with higher ratings on technical skills than on interpersonal skills compared with a physician with higher ratings on interpersonal skills than on technical skills, t(369.96)=22.36, P<.001, Cohen d=1.22. In the selection of different types of physicians, patients were more likely to choose a specialist with higher ratings on technical skills than on interpersonal skills, compared with a primary care physician with the same ratings, F(1,521)=5.34, P=.021. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that people place more weight on technical skills than interpersonal skills in their selection of a physician based on their ratings on the Web. Specifically, people are more likely to make a compromise on interpersonal skills in their choice of a specialist compared with a primary care physician. This study emphasizes the importance of examining Web-based physician ratings in a more nuanced way in relation to the selection of different types of physicians. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN91316463; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN91316463
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spelling pubmed-66252182019-07-30 The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment Li, Siyue Hubner, Austin J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Physician review websites have empowered prospective patients to acquire information about physicians. However, little is known about how Web-based ratings on different aspects of a physician may affect patients’ selection of physicians differently. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to examine (1) how patients weigh ratings on a physician’s technical skills and interpersonal skills in their selection of physicians and (2) whether and how people’s choice of a primary care physician versus a specialist is affected differently by Web-based ratings. METHODS: A 2×2×2×2 between-subjects experiment was conducted. Over 600 participants were recruited through a crowdsourcing website and randomly assigned to view a mockup physician review Web page that contained information on a physician’s basic information and patients’ ratings. After reviewing the Web page, participants were asked to complete a survey on their perceptions of the physician and willingness to seek health care from the physician. RESULTS: The results showed that participants were more willing to choose a physician with higher ratings on technical skills than on interpersonal skills compared with a physician with higher ratings on interpersonal skills than on technical skills, t(369.96)=22.36, P<.001, Cohen d=1.22. In the selection of different types of physicians, patients were more likely to choose a specialist with higher ratings on technical skills than on interpersonal skills, compared with a primary care physician with the same ratings, F(1,521)=5.34, P=.021. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that people place more weight on technical skills than interpersonal skills in their selection of a physician based on their ratings on the Web. Specifically, people are more likely to make a compromise on interpersonal skills in their choice of a specialist compared with a primary care physician. This study emphasizes the importance of examining Web-based physician ratings in a more nuanced way in relation to the selection of different types of physicians. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN91316463; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN91316463 JMIR Publications 2019-06-28 /pmc/articles/PMC6625218/ /pubmed/31254337 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11188 Text en ©Siyue Li, Austin Hubner. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 28.06.2019. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/.as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Li, Siyue
Hubner, Austin
The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment
title The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment
title_full The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment
title_fullStr The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment
title_short The Impact of Web-Based Ratings on Patient Choice of a Primary Care Physician Versus a Specialist: Randomized Controlled Experiment
title_sort impact of web-based ratings on patient choice of a primary care physician versus a specialist: randomized controlled experiment
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6625218/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31254337
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11188
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