Reviews And Ratings: Valuable Data Points For Patient Choice - Dr Ratna Devi

In today’s interconnected yet disjointed world, rather long distances separate even close members of a family. Healthcare is one need, where these members come together and assist each other in finding the physician, who in their opinion would best fulfil their medical needs. The parameters generally used depend on the medical condition or the kind of intervention recommended by the treating physician.

Online Consultations: The Opinion of the Patient Matters

The National Medical Commission, in a recent Gazette Notification that is not currently in effect, had proposed changes that could potentially limit patients' access to online information about healthcare providers.

The online platforms and social media are appropriate geography-neutral fora for sharing information. On the one hand, they help patients access user-generated and platform-verified information, and schedule appointments, and on the other hand, it helps physicians share public-interest information and updates on their availability and movement between hospitals/change in clinic address.

Experience during the COVID-19 pandemic firmly established the usefulness and utilization of such platforms. According to a recent report online consultations with General Physicians and Pulmonologists grew 30x during the period April-May 2021. This is an affirmation of the usefulness of correct information for patients and their family members.

A further analysis of the same data suggests that 50% of those consultations were by people in the 21-30-year bracket and another 13% by those in the senior citizen category. Such an analysis clearly indicates the usefulness and utilization of online information. Such information is critical for decision-making, is convenient to access, and provides ample time for consultation.

The time is ripe for the Government and the NMC to appreciate the importance of credible online information and its utility. The government should adopt a consultative approach and arrive at decisions that best serve the patient’s medical interests, encouraging physicians to update their skills, knowledge, certifications and other medical qualifications. This way online information will be a win-win for both stakeholders.

According to Grand View Research, in the US in 2021 there were an estimated 15 crore doctor consultations that were scheduled through online platforms, and this is expected to reach 42 crores by 2028.

Support Patient’s Right to Information and Choice

The Indian guidelines about the review and ratings of physicians and healthcare facilities are rather ambiguous. It is well-known that healthcare operates in information asymmetry and this may lead to adverse selection, putting the patients and families at heightened risk. Caveat emptor is not valid for healthcare interventions. Patients and their family members have a right to information and it is their prerogative to choose their treating physician. So how does a consumer get relatively credible information?

Online platforms can help bridge the information deficit through the use of high-end technology.

The need is to encourage the participation of physicians and patients on these online platforms. Through the use of technology, the platforms develop natural language processing algorithms that can identify words or rule-based filtering and machine learning protocols that can red-flag malicious content and prevent it. This can be a powerful filter for refining and controlling malicious content.

Banning the presence of physicians or healthcare providers from participating on the platforms may be a restrictive practice, and be construed as a discriminatory policy that prevents patients and family members from expressing their opinions or seeking appointments. This is notwithstanding the fact that some reviews and ratings may be biased, based on unfortunate or tragic outcomes, yet the platforms are democratic, and the repository becomes self-correcting.

Global Experience Suggests the Usefulness of Reviews and Ratings

A report by the Brookings Institution suggested that patients prefer online reviews to government ratings when choosing a doctor. Another study published in Research Gate brought out that patient’s comments are all-encompassing, and cover every touch-point of their journey within the medical establishment. These insights provide some very practical and helpful information for decision-making.

A recent study published in the American Marketing Association compared the rating data from a popular website (and Medicare data), and concluded, “online reviews are highly correlated with important measures of clinical quality and provide important quality signals to patients”.

Similarly, an Open Access article published in the venerated, British Medical Journal, deduced that patient satisfaction is a growing concern in all aspects of healthcare, and as the voice of the customer, it is a measure of quality.

The National Health Services (NHS), UK’s biggest health website gets over 50 million visits every month. The site has a feature, Find Services Near You, that encourages patients to review and rate their experience of their visit to the NHS service provider. The site accepts anonymous reviews but has a provision for email verification. Comments may undergo moderation and must adhere to stated guidelines.

User-Generated Feedback: The New Currency

By allowing the RMPs and healthcare providers to register on and participate in reviews and rating platforms, the government and the NMC will provide a great service to patients. They will benefit from the easily accessible user-generated review for informed decision-making.