Abstract
PurposeTo investigate how patients value radiologists, using data from the Dutch healthcare assessment website. MethodThe Dutch healthcare assessment website was searched for patient reviews about radiologists in The Netherlands. The scores (scale of 1–10) assigned to the most recent review of each radiologist were extracted. All written reviews were assessed using standardized coding taxonomy, in the domains "clinical competencies" (including quality and safety of clinical care) and "relationships" (including communication with patients and humaneness/caring). For each category, it was assessed whether the review was positive or negative with regard to the performance of the radiologist. Results217 of 941 radiologists (23 %) had been reviewed between 2017 and 2021. The total number of institutions to which these radiologists were affiliated was 75 (6 academic and 69 non-academic institutions). Median score assigned to each review was 9.6 (interquartile range 1.3, range 1–10). 74 of 217 radiologists (34 %) were given a maximum review score of 10. 29 of 217 radiologists (13 %) were given a review score of 5 or lower. The far majority of reviews concerned the categories communication (36 % of all positive patient reviews and 30 % of all negative patient reviews) and humaneness/caring (45 % of all positive patient reviews and 49 % of all negative patient reviews). ConclusionRadiologists are generally highly valued by patients, although there is room for improvement to decrease the number of negative patient experiences. Communication and empathy appear to be the most important skills on which radiologists are judged from a patient's perspective.
Highlights
Radiology is a rapidly changing medical specialty and radiologists should be proactive in this process to thrive [1]
Median score assigned to each patient review was 9.6. 74 of 217 radiologists (34 %) were given a maximum review score of 10. 29 of 217 radiologists (13 %) were given a review score of 5 or lower
Our study, using recent data from the Dutch healthcare assessment website, shows that radiologists in The Netherlands are generally highly valued by patients, with a median score of 9.6 on a scale of 0–10
Summary
Radiology is a rapidly changing medical specialty and radiologists should be proactive in this process to thrive [1]. Radiologists have a responsibility to many stakeholders, including governmental bodies, health insurance companies, colleagues from other medical specialties, and, first and foremost, patients, to deliver high-quality care. The Eu ropean Society of Radiology has launched the Patient Advisory Group in 2013, acknowledging patients as the most important stakeholder in radiology [2]. In this regard, it is important to know how patients value radiologists and how radiologists can maintain and improve patient satisfaction. By providing information about individual healthcare providers, the website aims to enable a patient to chose a health care provider that meets one’s needs [9]. Healthcare providers can use the patient evaluations on this website as a quality tool that gives them insight into what patients think is going well and what can be improved [9]
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