Utah provider goes public with doc rankings
Healthcare consumers considering a physician at University of Utah Health Care now have online access to the system’s patient satisfaction scores and comments. The rankings are based on more than 40,000 patient surveys and evaluate physicians on nine questions.
“It’s clear patients and consumers making healthcare decisions want online access to trusted reviews from their peers,” said Thomas Miller, MD, chief medical officer for University of Utah Health Care.
The rankings use a five-star system similar to most consumer rating sites, such as Yelp, Angie’s List and HealthGrades, according to the provider. The number of stars a physician receives per question is calculated using the mean score provided on the survey. Currently, the system’s lowest physician ranking is 3.9 out of 5 stars with the next lowest at 4.2. The system’s overall physician satisfaction ranking is 4.7.
Comments are reviewed before being posted and only edited to remove information that might identify a patient or be considered libelous or slanderous. “The majority of our patients are very generous with their comments, clearly articulating the value we provide. We understand transparency is the expectation for online rankings and critical comments are not edited or removed,” says Miller. He noted that 99.5 percent of all physician comments received so far have been posted unedited.
The health system’s patient satisfaction survey is administered by Press Ganey, a South Bend, Ind.-based research and business consulting firm. The survey asks patients to rate their physicians on the following factors:
- Likelihood of recommending doctor;
- Confidence in doctor;
- Time spent with doctor;
- Doctor’s use of clear language;
- Doctor’s effort to include patient in decisions;
- Doctor’s concern for questions and worries;
- Doctor’s explanation of condition/problem;
- Wait time at clinic; and
- Doctor’s friendliness and courtesy.