Use of telehealth after 2020 did not impact online ratings for orthopedic oncologists
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Key takeaways:
- Telehealth availability did not impact star ratings or review rates for orthopedic oncologists before or after 2020.
- Patients reported an increased frequency of negatively perceived appointment and wait times.
The increase in telehealth availability during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 did not impact online star ratings or review rates for orthopedic oncologists, according to published results.
Megna Panchbhavi, from the department of applied computational statistics and mathematics at the University of Notre Dame, and colleagues performed a review of online ratings from www.healthgrades.com for 141 orthopedic oncologists through October 2020.
Panchbhavi and colleagues assessed telemedicine availability, gender, age, location of practice, mean star rating, review rate per 1,000 days and patient-reported positive and negative interactions for each physician. They compared mean star ratings and review rates among the 27 physicians who offered telehealth services before and after Jan. 1, 2020.
For all physicians included in the study, the median star rating was 4.5 stars and the average star rating was 4.23 stars. The median number of ratings per physician was 13 ratings, and the average number of ratings per physician was 18.68. In addition, 12,413 reviews included positive patient-reported interactions, while 2,448 included negative patient-reported interactions.
Overall, Panchbhavi and colleagues found no significant differences in mean star rating or review rate for physicians who offered telehealth services before or after Jan. 1, 2020.
According to the study, patients reported an increased frequency of positively perceived staff friendliness, explanation of conditions, listening and answering questions, trusting provider decisions, ease of appointment scheduling and facility comfortability. However, patients reported an increased frequency of negatively perceived appointment times and wait times.
“Negative patient experiences, primarily linked to long wait times and rushed appointments, were unaffected by demographic factors or telemedicine availability in orthopedic oncologist ratings. These challenges are further exacerbated by the need for patients to travel long distances to specialized tertiary care centers with broad catchment areas,” Panchbhavi told Healio. “Addressing these issues and leveraging telemedicine to improve efficiency could enhance patient satisfaction and care outcomes in orthopedic oncology.”
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