Online ratings influence parents' choices of physicians for their children

U-M research shows almost three-quarters of parents aware of physician-rating Web sites, about a quarter have used them to select children's docs

2014-09-22

(Press-News.org) ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Almost three-quarters (74%) of parents are aware of online rating sites for physicians, and more than one-quarter (28%) have used those online ratings to choose a healthcare provider for their children, according to U-M research published today in Pediatrics.

Using the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, researchers surveyed 1,619 parents about how online ratings of physicians influenced their choices in seeking healthcare providers for their children.

They found that parents had a higher level of awareness of online sites than the overall population, says lead author David A. Hanauer, a primary care pediatrician at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the U-M Medical School.

"These review sites have the potential to change the patient-physician relationship and transform it into more of a service-focused, consumer-provider relationship," Hanauer says.

In the study, parents were give three scenarios designed to measure the impact of online ratings on their decision to select a physician for their children.. In the first scenario, they were told a doctor who took their health insurance was recommended by a neighbor. In the second, they were told that the neighbor-recommended doctor had one of the top ratings on a physician-rating Web site.

And in the third scenario, they were told the neighbor-recommended doctor had one of the lowest physician ratings on the website.

The results showed that just a neighbor's recommendation, the first scenario, spurred 22 percent of the parents to say it was very likely they'd choose the recommended physician.

But when the neighbor's recommendation was combined with the high online rating, that number more than doubled, to 46 percent reporting they'd be very likely to choose the recommended physician.

Meanwhile, only 3 percent said they were very likely to choose the physician based on a neighbor's recommendation with a low online rating.

"A provider's online reputation may now be just as important as one's reputation among the general community, and the results from this research seems to support that perspective," Hanauer says.

"Regardless of whether respondents had viewed physician ratings in the past, and independent of the respondents' age, gender or, educational level, both positive and negative online ratings strongly influenced the likelihood of selecting a child's physician recommended by a neighbor."

About a third of parents in the survey who reported previously using Web site reviews to choose a doctor for their child said they chose a physician due to good ratings or avoided a physician due to poor ratings.

"This happens despite persistent questions about how trustworthy these sites actually are," Hanauer says.

Some physicians have attempted to prevent patients from leaving comments by having them sign a "contract of mutual privacy" that forbids them from commenting on rating sites without permission. Other physicians have even sued patients for posting negative comments on ratings sites.

In this survey, just 6 percent of parents said they had ever posted an online rating about a physician.

"The small percentage of parents who actually post reviews suggests that people who depend on online ratings may not be getting a complete picture of a doctor's care," Hanauer says.

"You can find reviews online for multiple services like hotel accommodations, mechanics or restaurant reviews. But choosing a doctor is more complex than choosing where to have dinner," Hanauer says.

"Our study underscores the importance of examining awareness about, as well as use of, online physician ratings when parents are making physician choices for their children."

INFORMATION: Journal reference: doi:10.1542/peds.2014-0681

Additional authors: All of the University of Michigan: Kai Zheng, Ph.D.; Dianne C. Singer, M.P.H.; Achamyeleh Gebremariam, M.S.; and Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P.

Disclosures: None

Related report: C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health

Website: Check out the Poll's website: MottNPCH.org. You can search and browse over 90 NPCH Reports, suggest topics for future polls, share your opinion in a quick poll, and view information on popular topics.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mottnpch
Twitter: @MottNPCH

Purpose/Funding: The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health – based at the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan and funded by the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and the University of Michigan Health System – is designed to measure major health care issues and trends for U.S. children.

Findings from the U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health do not represent the opinions of the investigators or the opinions of the University of Michigan. END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hold on, tiger mom

2014-09-22

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Less supportive and punitive parenting techniques used by some Chinese parents might lead to the development of low self-esteem and school adjustment difficulties in their children and leave them vulnerable to depression and problem behaviors, according to a paper recently published by a University of California, Riverside assistant professor and other researchers. The study, believed to be the first that provides empirical support to this idea, refutes the idea that the traditional, strict "Chinese" upbringing, which gained widespread attention in ...

Obesity and stress pack a double hit for health

2014-09-22

If you're overweight, you may be at greater risk for stress-related diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to a new study by Brandeis University. It's long known that psychological stress can trigger biological responses similar to the effects of illness or injury, including inflammation. While normal inflammation is an important part of our body's healing response, runaway inflammation can contribute to chronic and life-threatening diseases. In a recently published paper in Brain, Behavior and Immunity, Brandeis researchers observed ...

Environment plays bigger role than genetics in food allergic disease eosinophilic esophagitis

2014-09-22

Researchers have found that environment has a much stronger role than genetics in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a severe, often painful food allergy that renders children unable to eat a wide variety of foods. Eosinophils are normal cellular components of the blood, but when the body produces too many eosinophils they can cause a variety of eosinophilic disorders. These are disorders involving chronic inflammation and resulting tissue damage, often in the gastrointestinal system. In an international collaboration involving multiple institutions, researchers at ...

Influenza A potentiates pneumococcal co-infection: New details emerge

2014-09-22

Influenza infection can enhance the ability of the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae to cause ear and throat infections, according to research published ahead of print in the journal Infection and Immunity. In the study, the investigators infected mice with either influenza alone, pneumococci alone, or both at once, and then monitored the populations of bacteria and virus over time. They also monitored the mice for development of middle ear infection. Influenza infection enhanced the bacterium's ability to colonize the nasopharynx, and to infect the normally sterile ...

New RFID technology helps robots find household objects

2014-09-22

Mobile robots could be much more useful in homes, if they could locate people, places and objects. Today's robots usually see the world with cameras and lasers, which have difficulty reliably recognizing things and can miss objects that are hidden in clutter. A complementary way robots can "sense" what is around them is through the use of small ultra-high frequency radio-frequency identification (UHF RFID) tags. Inexpensive self-adhesive tags can be stuck on objects, allowing an RFID-equipped robot to search a room for the correct tag's signal, even when the object is hidden ...

Lack of thyroid hormone blocks hearing development

2014-09-22

Fatigue, weight gain, chills, hair loss, anxiety, excessive perspiration — these symptoms are a few of the signs that the thyroid gland, which regulates the body's heart rate and plays a crucial role in its metabolism, has gone haywire. Now, new research from Tel Aviv University points to an additional complication caused by thyroid imbalance: congenital deafness. The study, published in Mammalian Genome, was conducted by Prof. Karen B. Avraham and Dr. Amiel Dror of the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at TAU's Sackler School of Medicine. Using ...

Some concussion education more useful than others, parents say

2014-09-22

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Many parents whose kids participate in athletics will be asked to sign a waiver about concussion education, but that's not enough to ensure parents are confident about handling the injury, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. In the poll, about half of the 912 parents of middle and high school children surveyed reported participation in some type of concussion education: 23% have read a brochure or online information 17% have watched a video or attended a presentation ...

King Fire rages on in Eldorado National Forest

2014-09-22

Evacuations of 2,819 people have occurred in the wake of the huge King Fire blazing out of control near the Eldorado National Forest. The King Fire is burning in steep terrain in the South Fork of the American River Canyon, Silver Creek Canyon, and the Rubicon Canyon, north of the community of Pollock Pines. The fire has crossed into Placer County and burned onto the Tahoe National Forest north of the Eldorado National Forest. The anticipated spread is expected to be minimal on Sept. 22 due to thunderstorms that moved through the area overnight, bringing lightning and ...

Blood test may help determine who is at risk for psychosis

2014-09-22

A study led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers represents an important step forward in the accurate diagnosis of people who are experiencing the earliest stages of psychosis. Psychosis includes hallucinations or delusions that define the development of severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Schizophrenia emerges in late adolescence and early adulthood and affects about 1 in every 100 people. In severe cases, the impact on a young person can be a life compromised, and the burden on family members can be almost as severe. The study published ...

NASA's TRMM satellite tallies Hurricane Odile's heavy rainfall

2014-09-22

During the week of Sept. 15, Hurricane Odile and its weakened remnants produced heavy rainfall that caused dangerous flooding over Mexico's Baja California peninsula and southwestern United States. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite gathers data on rainfall that was used to create a map that showed estimated totals that in one case neared almost three feet! Some of Odile's may have been welcomed in the U.S. Southwest where some areas have been experiencing extreme to exceptional drought conditions, but some was extreme and led to flooding. TRMM ...