Medical Student University of South Alabama Whiddon College of Medicine
Disclosure(s):
Ryan Mumford: No financial relationships to disclose
Introduction: The rise in consumer healthcare has allowed for the advent of physician review websites to not only flourish but also drive health care decisions for consumers. We evaluated the trends of reviews in spine surgeons with regard to their affiliation.
Methods: Ten American cities were selected via a stratified approach based on metropolitan population. Inclusion criteria required at least one academic hospital affiliated with a neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery department. Data was extracted from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) databases for all surgeons within criteria for each city. Google Reviews, Health Grades, and Vitals served as the review platforms of interest for acquisition of total and average review number.
Results: A total of 155 academic, 203 hospital employed, and 117 private practice spinal surgeons were included (n=475). 9.44% of the ratings were one star, while 85.8% were five stars. Academic affiliated spine surgeons generated less reviews than both hospital employed and private practices (p < 0.0001), with hospital employed affiliations bringing in more reviews than private (p < 0.05).
Conclusion : Our study illustrates that academic spine surgeons receive fewer reviews than their hospital employed colleagues. This is compounded by most online reviews were five-star reviews (85%). Further analysis is necessary to construct additional findings and the impact on patient-surgeon selection.
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