Poor service, bedside manner top patients' online complaints

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Poor service, bedside manner top patients' online complaints


On "rate-your-doctor" websites, patients complain more about poor
bedside manner and unprofessional office staff than inadequate medical
skills, according to a recent multi-city study published by Vanguard
Communications.

(HealthDay)—On "rate-your-doctor" websites, patients complain more
about poor bedside manner and unprofessional office staff than
inadequate medical skills, according to a recent multi-city study
published by Vanguard Communications.
Researchers reviewed the Yelp, Vitals, and RateMDs websites to find
the most common complaints patients have about their physicians. Over
3,500 online reviews of 300 physicians (internists and obstetrician-
gynecologists) in Denver, New York City, San Diego, and Austin, Texas,
were assessed.

The researchers found that 53 percent of the online reviews gave
physicians no greater than two stars out of a possible four or five
stars. The top complaints lodged by patients were poor bedside manner/
doctor indifference (43.1 percent); poor customer service (35.3
percent); and inadequate medical skills (21.5 percent), including
false diagnoses and surgical mistakes.

One complaint regarding poor bedside manner and doctor indifference
read: "Dr. Y glanced at my breast lump and quickly gave me a diagnosis
of 'cyst' because I was too young to have anything else. He didn't
even do an ultrasound! Well, it turns out my 'cyst' was cancer."
Another comment, summing up a common theme on customer service, read:
"Not a nice office. Doctor himself is very nice. Would be better if he
surrounded himself with better staff."






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