Cyberspace and Libel: A Dangerous Balance for Physicians

Chiruvella, Varsha; Guddati, Achuta Kumar

doi:10.2196/22271

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…For instance, medical practitioners in obstetrics and gynecology face a high risk of patient complaint [37]. It is unclear whether WPRs have enforceable legal value, although they have appeared in lawsuits before, for instance, in cases of libel where a physician considered their WPRs to be defamatory [38,39].…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patients who leave reviews tend to be women with postsecondary education who have a chronic illness [40]; however, demographic variables and health status do not act solely as predictors for a patient's use of physician evaluation tools. WPR websites such as RateMDs [1] have a substantial influence on patients who read or write reviews [16,39]. For example, Emmert et al [35] demonstrated that 65% of survey respondents went to a physician based on that physician's WPRs, whereas 52% did not go to a physician because of their WPRs.…”

Section: Interpreting the Significance Of Wprsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Use of Web-Based Patient Reviews to Assess Medical Oncologists’ Competency: Mixed Methods Sequential Explanatory Study

Morena¹,

Zelt²,

Nguyen³

et al. 2023

JMIR Form Res

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Background Patients increasingly use web-based evaluation tools to assess their physicians, health care teams, and overall medical experience. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the extent to which the standardized physician competencies of the CanMEDS Framework are present in web-based patient reviews (WPRs) and to identify patients’ perception of important physician qualities in the context of quality cancer care. Methods The WPRs of all university-affiliated medical oncologists in midsized cities with medical schools in the province of Ontario (Canada) were collected. Two reviewers (1 communication studies researcher and 1 health care professional) independently assessed the WPRs according to the CanMEDS Framework and identified common themes. Comment scores were then evaluated to identify κ agreement rates between the reviewers, and a descriptive quantitative analysis of the cohort was completed. Following the quantitative analysis, an inductive thematic analysis was performed. Results This study identified 49 actively practicing university-affiliated medical oncologists in midsized urban areas in Ontario. A total of 473 WPRs reviewing these 49 physicians were identified. Among the CanMEDS competencies, those defining the roles of medical experts, communicators, and professionals were the most prevalent (303/473, 64%; 182/473, 38%; and 129/473, 27%, respectively). Common themes in WPRs include medical skill and knowledge, interpersonal skills, and answering questions (from the patient to the physician). Detailed WPRs tend to include the following elements: experience and connection; discussion and evaluation of the physician’s knowledge, professionalism, interpersonal skills, and punctuality; in positive reviews, the expression of feelings of gratitude and a recommendation; and in negative reviews, discouragement from seeking the physician’s care. Patients’ perception of medical skills is less specific than their perception of interpersonal qualities, although medical skills are the most commented-on element of care in WPRs. Patients’ perception of interpersonal skills (listening, compassion, and overall caring demeanor) and other experiential phenomena, such as feeling rushed during appointments, is often specific and detailed. Details about a physician’s interpersonal skills or “bedside manner” are highly perceived, valued, and shareable in an WPR context. A small number of WPRs reflected a distinction between the value of medical skills and that of interpersonal skills. The authors of these WPRs claimed that for them, a physician’s medical skills and competence are more important than their interpersonal skills. Conclusions CanMEDS roles and competencies that are explicitly patient facing (ie, those directly experienced by patients in their interactions with physicians and through the care that physicians provide) are the most likely to be present and reported on in WPRs. The findings demonstrate the opportunity to learn from WPRs, not simply to discern physicians’ popularity but to grasp what patients may expect from their physicians. In this context, WPRs can represent a method for the measurement and assessment of patient-facing physician competency.

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Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%