Parents rate the ratings: 3 things we learned from UM children’s health poll

The healthcare industry is well aware that physician rating websites are bigger now than ever before. But do parents use these sites? Do they trust them?

To find out, David Hanauer, MD, a physician at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, and colleagues surveyed parents of children 17 years old or younger in January 2016.

The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health provided insight into how parents truly view physician rating websites. These are three big takeaways from the results.

1. Parents do, in fact, refer to ratings websites

Three out of 10 parents reported that they look at online physician ratings for either themselves or a family member in the past year. Thirty-six percent of mothers reported using a site compared to 22 percent of fathers.

2. Parents doubt the validity of online ratings

“Concerns about these sites may be preventing parents from using them more broadly,” the authors wrote. “The majority of parents expressed serious concerns about doctor rating websites that call into question the objectivity and authenticity of ratings.”

Sixty-nine percent of all respondents said they think there could be “fake” reviews listed on ratings websites, and 64 percent of respondents said there are not enough ratings available to make a good decision.

Such views may seem pessimistic at first, but of the 11 percent of respondents who said they have personal experience with rating a physician online, 30 percent of them said they did it because they were specifically asked to by the doctor in question.

“Some of the concerns endorsed by parents appear valid,” the authors wrote. “Parents report that doctors are encouraging parents to leave ratings, and with only one in ten parents leaving a rating, ratings may not be fairly representative.”

3. Older parents have more concerns about online ratings than younger parents

Parents under the age of 30 trust that online reviews are real more than parents ages 30 and up. Seventy-one percent of parents 30 years old or older are “concerned about the possibility of fake reviews,” while 59 percent of parents younger than 30 share that concern.

The poll also found that older parents are more concerned about the number of online ratings than younger parents.

Looking for more information? This entire study, including an infographic and the full list of survey questions, can be read by visiting the National Poll on Children’s Health website.