Rush University Medical Center has become the first organization in the Midwest to post the results of patient surveys in the profiles of individual physicians on its website.
The organization's announcement comes just a few weeks after FierceHealthcare reported that Long Island-based North Shore-LIJ Medical Group also plans to post patient reviews of its doctors online, making it the first large medical group in the New York metropolitan area to do so.
As online ratings play an increasing role in consumer healthcare decisions, many healthcare organizations are getting into the ratings game by posting real patient feedback on their web sites, FierceHealthcare reported in June. Many providers share patient satisfaction surveys with the general public instead of relying on popular rankings sites, such as Healthgrades, Vitals, or rateMDs.
"The general trend in healthcare is toward increased transparency," says Anthony Perry, M.D., vice president of ambulatory care and population health at Rush in the announcement. "We want to embrace that trend, because we believe that information will empower patients who are making important decisions and simultaneously inspire us to be the best we can be on their behalf."
Rush plans to post patient feedback about any physician for whom the medical center has received 30 or more surveys in a rolling one-year period. Patients are asked about the provider's friendliness, explanations of care, level of concern and understandability. The feedback is presented in the form of stars, ranging from one star for a "very poor" evaluation to five stars for "very good."
"These aspects of care are what patients notice first and most about their physicians, and we want to be accountable to our patients for how we treat them," Perry says.
Perry says he hopes that making the patient feedback available will make it easier for patients to choose doctors that will be a good fit for them.
To learn more:
- read the announcement
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