The Availability and Nature of Physician Information on the Internet

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although patients are commonly using the Internet to find healthcare information, the amount of personal and professional physician information and patient-generated ratings freely accessible online is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the nature of online professional and personal information available to the average patient searching for physician information through a standardized web search. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We studied 250 randomly selected internal medicine physicians registered with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine in 2008. For each physician, standardized searches via the Google search engine were performed using a sequential search strategy. The top 20 search results were analyzed, and websites that referred to the study subject were recorded and categorized. Physician rating sites were further investigated to determine the number of patient-entered reviews. MAIN MEASURES: Number and content of websites attributable to specific physicians. KEY RESULTS: Websites containing personal or professional information were identified for 93.6% of physicians. Among those with any web sites identified, 92.8% had professional information and 32.4% had personal information available online. Female physicians were more likely to have professional information available on the Internet than male physicians (97.5% vs. 91.7%, p=0.03), but had similar rates of available personal information (32.5% vs. 32.5%, p=ns). Among personal sites, the most common categories included social networking sites such as Facebook (10.8% of physicians), hobbies (10.0%), charitable or political donations (9.6%), and family information (8.8%). Physician rating sites were identified for 86.4% of providers, but only three physicians had more than five reviews on any given rating site. CONCLUSIONS: Personal and professional physician information is widely available on the Internet, and often not under direct control of the individual physician. The availability of such information has implications for physician-patient relationships and suggests that physicians should monitor their online information.KEY WORDS: physician characteristics; Internet; quality of care; information technology.

Parental Awareness and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites

“…A recent study found that on one major ratings site, the majority (67%) of physicians had no reviews, and very few (2%) had .5 reviews, raising questions about representativeness. 58 Similarly, another study reported that among 33 different rating sites, .70% of physicians did not have a single review on any of the sites. 20 However, the number of physicians with ratings, as well as the number of ratings per physician, is increasing.…”

Physician Review Websites: Effects of the Proportion and Position of Negative Reviews on Readers’ Willingness to Choose the Doctor

“…However, the Internet offers an additional source of information when searching for a physician (Harris, Buntin, & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2008;Mostaghimi, Crotty, & Landon, 2010). Information about physicians is often provided by health care organizations and health insurance companies on their corporate websites (Reimann & Strech, 2010).…”

Mental Health Practitioners’ Use and Attitudes Regarding the Internet and Social Media

“…Healthcare workers are using electronic communications and social media both personally and professionally, and there has recently been a great deal of discussion about how they are using these resources and potential pitfalls involved. [1][2][3][4] Use of the Internet in mental health care has special significance, since therapeutic neutrality, confidentiality, and boundary crossings may be challenged by these new technological advances. [5][6][7] Nevertheless, it is possible that mental health care could benefit from appropriate use of Internet technologies.…”