I'm asking this questions both as a student researcher (looking at the value of online reviews), and as a personal curiosity. Do you look at physician reviews (e.g. RateMDs.com, healthgrades.com, Yelp.com, or other) when you choose a doctor? From reading the academic literature on this, lots of people use doctor reviews to choose a doctor, but I'm skeptical. I'm not sure how useful they are. Do you use them? If so, what kind of information do you get from them?
I didn't use reviews to find my midwife, because there arean't any. But there are tons of reviews on OBs in the area, and if I was choosing a new OB now I'd probably check out the reviews. Someday (hopefully soon!) when I need a pediatrician I'll also probably check reviews. But who knows how useful they'll be in making a decision?
What do you think?
