Diagnosis, Bedside Manner and Comment Style are Predictive Factors in Online Ratings of Urologists.

INTRODUCTION: We assess how urologists are rated online by patients and which factors influence these ratings. METHODS: We created an anonymous database of urologists' ratings from Ontario, Canada using a popular rating website (RateMDs.com). Comments were assessed for mention of diagnosis, bedside manner and nonlinguistic emphasis devices, and the impact of these variables was analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 3,288 ratings were identified for 224 urologists (median 15 ratings per urologist, range 1 to 35), representing 75.4% of practicing urologists in the province. Mean rating was 3.96/5 (median 4.75, range 1 to 5). Overall 2,215 ratings (67.4%) were 4/5 or greater. Comment on good bedside manner was associated with higher ratings (mean 4.74 vs 3.92, p <0.001) and comment on poor bedside manner was associated with lower ratings (mean 2.45 vs 4.01, p <0.001). Patients mentioning surgery rated urologists higher than those who did not (4.28 vs 3.85, p <0.001). A specific diagnosis was mentioned in 1,056 cases (32.1%). Mean rating was highest for kidney cancer (4.67) and lowest for vasectomy (3.77, p <0.001). Comments with at least 1 word in full capital letters and those with a word or phrase in quotation marks were accompanied by lower ratings (mean 3.11 vs 4.03 and 3.13 vs 4.02, respectively, p <0.001). Longer comments were also associated with lower ratings (word count 1 to 50-mean rating 4.24, word count 51 to 100-mean rating 3.88, word count greater than 100-mean rating 3.29; p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Urologists are reviewed favorably online. Patients who note surgery, a cancer diagnosis or good bedside manner rate urologists highly, while longer comments, the use of all caps or quotation marks, or mention of a poor bedside manner are associated with lower ratings.