{"id":599,"date":"2008-11-10T11:30:52","date_gmt":"2008-11-10T16:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pmedicine.org\/epatients\/?p=599"},"modified":"2008-11-10T12:20:15","modified_gmt":"2008-11-10T17:20:15","slug":"how-good-are-doctor-rating-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/participatorymedicine.org\/epatients\/2008\/11\/how-good-are-doctor-rating-sites.html","title":{"rendered":"How Good Are Doctor Rating Sites?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ruth Given has written a paper entitled, MD Rating Websites: Current State of the Space and Future Prospects<\/a> (PDF), that was recently published on THCB. It’s a 39-page informal analysis (with an emphasis placed on informal<\/em>) that takes a fairly good and comprehensive look at the space of doctor rating sites as they exist today.<\/p>\n

I think that the main issue Given hit upon in the report (but I’m not sure she recognizes as the primary challenge of doctor rating sites) is the numbers issue. With over 700,000 physicians in the U.S., a ratings database of 10,000 or even 20,000 is pitifully and woefully small. <\/p>\n

And not only is such a number small, it is statistically troublesome, likely painting an inaccurate picture of providers listed. If most sites only have one or two ratings for any given physician (and such data is statistically useless, if the average family physician is covering between 2,000 to 2,500 patients), then the sites themselves provide little added value outside of the directory listing. Which, as Given notes, is inaccurate or nonexistent more often than not.<\/p>\n

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For a number to have meaning in research, one needs to look at where the number comes from. In terms of rating sites (any rating site), ratings are more likely to be valid and reliable<\/a> if:<\/p>\n