@Article{info:doi/10.2196/11646,
author="Liu, Cynthia
and Uffenheimer, Meka
and Nasseri, Yosef
and Cohen, Jason
and Ellenhorn, Joshua",
title="``But His Yelp Reviews Are Awful!'': Analysis of General Surgeons' Yelp Reviews",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2019",
month="Apr",
day="30",
volume="21",
number="4",
pages="e11646",
keywords="patient satisfaction; general surgery; Los Angeles; Web-based ratings; digital health; Yelp",
abstract="Background: Patients use Web-based platforms to review general surgeons. However, little is known about the free-form text and structured content of the reviews or how they relate to the physicians' characteristics or their practices. Objective: This observational study aimed to analyze the Web-based reviews of general surgeons on the west side of Los Angeles. Methods: Demographics, practice characteristics, and Web-based presence were recorded. We evaluated frequency and types of Yelp reviews and assigned negative remarks to 5 categories. Tabulated results were evaluated using independent t test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation analysis to determine associations between the number of total and negative reviews with respect to practice structure and physician characteristics. Results: Of the 146 general surgeons, 51 (35{\%}) had at least 1 review and 29 (20{\%}) had at least 1 negative review. There were 806 total reviews, 679 (84.2{\%}) positive reviews and 127 (15.8{\%}) negative reviews. The negative reviews contained a total of 376 negative remarks, categorized into physician demeanor (124/376, 32.9{\%}), clinical outcomes (81/376, 22{\%}), office or staff (83/376, 22{\%}), scheduling (44/376, 12{\%}), and billing (44/376, 12{\%}). Surgeons with a professional website had significantly more reviews than those without (P=.003). Surgeons in private practice had significantly more reviews (P=.002) and more negative reviews (P=.03) than surgeons who were institution employed. A strong and direct correlation was found between a surgeon's number of reviews and number of negative reviews (P<.001). Conclusions: As the most common category of complaints was about physician demeanor, surgeons may optimize their Web-based reputation by improving their bedside manner. A surgeon's Web presence, private practice, and the total number of reviews are significantly associated with both positive and negative reviews. ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/11646",
url="http://www.jmir.org/2019/4/e11646/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/11646",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31038463"
}