1 out of 6 doctors has been rated on a physician-rating website: are you one of them?

The current usage of physician-rating websites is still low but is increasing. International data show that 1 out of 6 physicians has been rated, and approximately 90% of all ratings on physician-rating websites were positive.

What Percentage of Physicians Has Been Rated?

Data for US physicians obtained from RateMDs showed that 16% of physicians were assessed by January 2010 (112,000 out of approx. 700,000).

What Is the Average Number of Ratings on Physician-Rating Websites?

Nearly half of the physicians had only a single rating on RateMDs in 2010, and the number of physicians with five or more ratings was 12.5%

Although often a concern, the authors of this meta-analysis could not find any evidence of "doctor-bashing".

How Should Physicians Deal With Physician-Rating Websites?

Physicians should not ignore these websites, but rather, monitor the information available and use it for internal and external purpose.

Physicians should perform “self-audits” on popular physician-rating websites to search for available information. It may be helpful if a staff member monitors these sites on a regular basis.

If nothing else, physician-rating websites often provide incorrect demographic information (eg, incorrect address, links to old practices, opening hours), which should be corrected.

Physicians should use the ratings in order to evaluate their patients’ satisfaction. Patients’ true thoughts on what makes a good doctor, what they value, etc., can be understood.

In the case of negative reviews, it is best not to respond online to try to refute the negative review point by point.

What Recommendations Can Be Made for Improvement of Physician-Rating Websites?

Some authors discuss whether a simple One Feedback Question containing a single question such as “Would you recommend Dr X to a loved one?” may be as useful as the multitude of specific questions.

Alemi et al suggest a 2-question survey: the “Minute Survey”. The first question asks patients to rate their overall experience. The second question asks: “Tell us what worked well and what needs improvement”.

References:

Eight Questions About Physician-Rating Websites - JMIR 2013 http://bit.ly/12ifjXA
Image source: RateMDs.com.

Healthcare social media #HCSM - top articles

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles related to healthcare social media (#HCSM) in the past 2-4 weeks:

Social media for health professionals at a glance http://buff.ly/10Gopxy

Online Professionalism Investigations by State Medical Boards: First, Do No Harm http://buff.ly/10GozFe

Social media in vascular surgery. [J Vasc Surg. 2013] http://buff.ly/10L5kdJ

Study finds rampant envy on Facebook http://buff.ly/10sCUzo

Eight Questions About Physician-Rating Websites - JMIR 2013 http://bit.ly/12ifjXA

Preserving Science News In An Online World - NPR discussion. How can journalists and bloggers avoid some of the pitfalls of communicating science in an online world? http://buff.ly/UMNSAN

Dr Mike Cadogan takes the medical world beyond social media (PDF) http://buff.ly/X8RTOD

Don't Call It Social Media: FOAM and the Future of Medical Education http://buff.ly/UQQ6PD

Misleading Health-Related Information Promoted Through Video-Based Social Media: Anorexia on YouTube. Pro-anorexia information was identified in 29.3% of anorexia-related videos. http://bit.ly/12joxD6

“While the vast majority of journalists are honest, some believe the facts shouldn't get in the way of a salacious story” http://bit.ly/VhPC59

Feasibility study of using social networks for learning support: Facebook (PDF) http://buff.ly/Y07ouE

Tesla, the New York Times and the leveling of the media playing field http://buff.ly/XeHT5y - This will soon apply to medicine too.

The Geography of Happiness According to 10 Million Tweets http://buff.ly/12ILWOy - Source PDF: http://buff.ly/12JmhW2

Twitter has the potential to enhance professional collegiality, advocacy, and scientific research - for ophthalmologists http://buff.ly/ZB0cUF

The researcher of the future…makes the most of social media - The Lancet discovers Twitter (comment) http://buff.ly/133cB9O (free full text after registration)

Show Us You Are Real: Human vs. Organizational Presence and Online Relationship Building Through Social Networks http://buff.ly/ZFJZxr

Twitter may be a promising mechanism to spread brief exercise behaviors http://buff.ly/136KpD2

The articles were selected from my Twitter and RSS streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases at gmail.com and you will receive an acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.

Risk of diabetes and stroke may be influenced by what we experienced in the womb

The risk of suffering diabetes or a stroke in later years may be influenced by what we experience in the womb. Medical researchers at Jena's University Hospital are investigating the long-term effects of prenatal stress on children now 8-10 years old.



Source: Research on Aging - Stress in the Womb | Tomorrow Today - YouTube http://bit.ly/15DQTtm

Analysis of Rafael Nadal's Knee Injury - Computer Animation from NYTimes

Rafael Nadal missed seven months last year with a knee injury. Nadal, an 11-time Grand Slam champion, returned to the tour at a small clay-court event in Vina del Mar, Chile, in February after recovering from a partially torn patella tendon and inflammation in his left knee. That knee will face its toughest test when he plays in the French Open, his first Grand Slam event since his return.



The 26-year-old Spaniard is favored to win and become the only player with eight French Open titles, even though he said his knee is still “not 100 percent.” Although he can practice less than an hour a day, he’s made the final in each of the eight tournaments he’s played since he returned to the men’s tennis circuit in February.

References:

Even at Half Speed, Nadal Still the Man to Beat in Paris - Bloomberg http://bloom.bg/111VzBK

Top medicine articles for April-May 2013

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for April-May 2013:

Antibiotics for COPD exacerbations: Further Evidence of Benefit http://buff.ly/WOANHG

Diet does not work: substituting dietary linoleic acid in place of saturated fats increased the rates of death - BMJ http://buff.ly/WOAZH5

The Physician in US Cigarette Advertisements, 1930–1953 (illustrated review) http://1.usa.gov/VcuA7W via @Skepticscalpel

Nearsighted kids may get worse in winter http://trib.in/VcvmC1 -- Myopia progression seem to decrease in periods with longer days and to increase in periods with shorter days. Children should be encouraged to spend more time outside during daytime to prevent myopia (study) http://buff.ly/X1cFSm

The average physician spends nearly 11% of his or her career with an unresolved medical liability claim http://buff.ly/WZQZWJ

When Diet Meets Delicious - The Mediterranean Approach http://buff.ly/XCsvTJ -- Mediterranean diet prohibits nothing that was recognized as food by your great-grandmother.

Designing Tomorrow's Vaccines - NEJM free full text http://buff.ly/XCybNK

FDA Approves New Class of Type 2 Diabetes Drug: Invokana (canaglifozin) tablet http://buff.ly/16cNuNR

Incidence of coccidioidomycosis ("valley fever") increased 8-fold in the endemic area of U.S. between 1998-2011 http://buff.ly/YpvSyp

Erectile Dysfunction Severity as a Risk Marker for Cardiovascular Disease Hospitalisation and All-Cause Mortality http://bit.ly/16djmSx

More than 80% of prescriptions in the USA are now for generic (not brand name) drugs http://bit.ly/16djvWd

Smoke alarm - mental illness and tobacco - of 10 UK million smokers, up to 3 mln have a mental health disorder http://bit.ly/16djIZx

1 in 3 Americans has dementia at time of death http://buff.ly/11aMpXB

Studies conducted in high-income countries suggest that 2%–14% of scientists may have fabricated or falsified data http://buff.ly/YHHOYG

Discontinuation of Statins: most patients who are rechallenged can tolerate statins long-term http://buff.ly/16uEbe5

"Big Data" for Global Infectious Disease Surveillance - Free dynamic risk maps http://buff.ly/11j8Hq9

The articles were selected from my Twitter and RSS streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases AT gmail.com and you will receive acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.