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Should patients use online reviews to pick their doctors and hospitals?

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  • David A. Hyman
  • Jing Liu
  • Bernard S. Black

Abstract

We compare the online reviews of 221 “Questionable” Illinois and Indiana physicians with multiple paid medical malpractice claims and disciplinary sanctions with matched control physicians with clean records. Across five prominent online rating services, we find small, mostly insignificant differences in star ratings and written reviews for Questionable versus control physicians. Only one rating service (Healthgrades) reports on paid medical malpractice claims and disciplinary actions and it misses more than 90% of these actions. We also evaluate the online ratings of 171 Illinois hospitals and find that their ratings are largely uncorrelated with the share of hospital‐affiliated physicians with paid medical malpractice claims and disciplinary sanctions. Online ratings have limited utility in helping patients avoid physicians with troubled medical malpractice and disciplinary records, and steering patients away from hospitals at which more physicians have paid medical malpractice claims and disciplinary sanctions.

Suggested Citation

  • David A. Hyman & Jing Liu & Bernard S. Black, 2022. "Should patients use online reviews to pick their doctors and hospitals?," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 897-935, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:empleg:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:897-935
    DOI: 10.1111/jels.12338
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. David A. Hyman & Mohammad Rahmati & Bernard Black, 2021. "Medical Malpractice and Physician Discipline: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 131-166, March.
    3. Susan F. Lu & Huaxia Rui, 2018. "Can We Trust Online Physician Ratings? Evidence from Cardiac Surgeons in Florida," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(6), pages 2557-2573, June.
    4. David Dranove & Ginger Zhe Jin, 2010. "Quality Disclosure and Certification: Theory and Practice," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(4), pages 935-963, December.
    5. Keith Carlson & Michael A. Livermore & Daniel N. Rockmore, 2020. "The Problem of Data Bias in the Pool of Published U.S. Appellate Court Opinions," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 224-261, June.
    6. Jing Liu & David A. Hyman, 2019. "Targeting Bad Doctors: Lessons from Indiana, 1975–2015," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 248-280, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Guetz, Bernhard & Bidmon, Sonja, 2023. "The Credibility of Physician Rating Websites: A Systematic Literature Review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).

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