Have you ever left a comment about your doctor on a physician rating website? It’s likely gone unread.
It’s possible your doctor either doesn’t know the site exists or isn’t interested.
That’s the conclusion of a recently released study in the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy that surveyed 1,001 registered doctors in primary and secondary care and 749 nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom. Researchers examined the experience and attitude that physicians and nurse had toward websites that allow patient feedback. They found that about 27 percent of doctors and 21 percent of nurses were aware of feedback about them as an individual specifically.
“We saw a lack of awareness from healthcare professionals of when feedback had been left about the care they delivered, whether as an individual or team,” said Helen Atherton, one of the authors of the study and an associate professor in primary care research at England’s Warwick Medical School. “Overall, awareness and use by doctors is low.”
Doctors, especially general practitioners, also are more likely to feel negatively about online feedback than nurses, researchers found. Read the news article here.
