Diagnosis, Bedside Manner and Comment Style are Predictive Factors in Online Ratings of Urologists

Abstract

IntroductionWe assess how urologists are rated online by patients and which factors influence these ratings. MethodsWe created an anonymous database of urologists’ ratings from Ontario, Canada using a popular rating website (RateMDs.com). Comments were assessed for mention of diagnosis, bedside manner and nonlinguistic emphasis devices, and the impact of these variables was analyzed. ResultsA total of 3,288 ratings were identified for 224 urologists (median 15 ratings per urologist, range 1 to 35), representing 75.4% of practicing urologists in the province. Mean rating was 3.96/5 (median 4.75, range 1 to 5). Overall 2,215 ratings (67.4%) were 4/5 or greater. Comment on good bedside manner was associated with higher ratings (mean 4.74 vs 3.92, p <0.001) and comment on poor bedside manner was associated with lower ratings (mean 2.45 vs 4.01, p <0.001). Patients mentioning surgery rated urologists higher than those who did not (4.28 vs 3.85, p <0.001). A specific diagnosis was mentioned in 1,056 cases (32.1%). Mean rating was highest for kidney cancer (4.67) and lowest for vasectomy (3.77, p <0.001). Comments with at least 1 word in full capital letters and those with a word or phrase in quotation marks were accompanied by lower ratings (mean 3.11 vs 4.03 and 3.13 vs 4.02, respectively, p <0.001). Longer comments were also associated with lower ratings (word count 1 to 50—mean rating 4.24, word count 51 to 100—mean rating 3.88, word count greater than 100—mean rating 3.29; p <0.001). ConclusionsUrologists are reviewed favorably online. Patients who note surgery, a cancer diagnosis or good bedside manner rate urologists highly, while longer comments, the use of all caps or quotation marks, or mention of a poor bedside manner are associated with lower ratings.