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Online reviews suggest bedside manner, honesty most important in plastic surgery

Analysis of online reviews of plastic surgeons indicated that bedside manner and honesty were favorable characteristics, while a feeling of pressure to undergo an unnecessary surgery was unfavorable.

The study was conducted in response to an increasing number of patients using online reviews, including Yelp, to find a physician. The researchers examined reasons for positive and negative reviews for dermatologists, plastic surgeons and facial plastic surgeons in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Chicago during May 2014. They included 200 reviews that met inclusion criteria from an initial examination of 842 reviews.

There were 264 comments analyzed, including 152 comments from five-star reviews and 112 comments from one-star reviews. Bedside manner was the most common reason for a five-star review, at 26.3%, followed by perceived honesty of the physician at 21.7% and patient satisfaction with the results, at 17%.

For one-star reviews, a poor bedside manner was the most commonly reported reason (23.1%), followed by a feeling of dishonesty or pressure to undergo a procedure (22.3%).

Overall, bedside manner was the most common factor in reviews.– by Rob Volansky

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.