New Report by Healthgrades and MGMA Analyzes 8.4 Million Patient Reviews

                                                                
Denver, Colo. - (January 28, 2020) - Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems, and MGMA, the premier healthcare business association for medical practices, today released the 2020 Patient Sentiment Report, which provides new insights into how patients experience healthcare.

Through an analysis of 8.4 million star reviews on Healthgrades.com, including 2.4 million written reviews, the Patient Sentiment Report reveals new findings that show what topics patients most often cite in positive reviews – comments on the doctor’s skill or care quality. From the patient’s perspective, this often translates into whether they had improvement in symptoms or underwent a procedure with a successful outcome. On the other hand, in negative reviews, patients mention the factors of wait time, visit time, and office staff up to three times more often than they do in positive reviews.

“Healthgrades Patient Sentiment Report depicts the current healthcare landscape, and illustrates how patients are experiencing their health care, inside and outside of the doctor’s office. This report shows that patients are in tune with the quality of care they receive, as well as demonstrates the importance of how online reviews can influence their decision to visit a provider or hospital,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “Health systems and providers alike can use this information to identify opportunities for growth and improve the quality of care that they provide.”

“A healthier world is achievable when we in healthcare understand how to build healthier relationships among physicians, patients and staff. This data demystifies the factors that will elevate patient experience: High-quality care, operational excellence and meaningful communication together build the foundation for the way we want healthcare to work,” said Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer at MGMA.

The Patient Sentiment Report also for the first time compared how patient sentiment varies across different states. For example, New Jersey and Idaho doctors are among the most highly-rated in the country, while providers in Maine and West Virginia receive lower ratings across multiple factors.

Gender Bias 
Additionally, the report outlines underlying gender biases for both male and female providers, and biases of male and female patients providing doctor reviews. Of the 8.4 million ratings on Healthgrades.com, patients on average rated male doctors higher than female doctors. Reviewers also mentioned skill and care quality more often when evaluating male providers than they do with female providers. 

When looking at the gender of the reviewer, however, male reviewers more often mention skill & care quality of their provider, while female reviewers more often mention bedside manner, communication and wait time in their reviews. 

Read the full analysis here.  

To find a doctor or read a review, visit https://www.healthgrades.com. To learn how Healthgrades partners with health systems, visit  partners.healthgrades.com. 

About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. At Healthgrades, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their provider of choice. With our scheduling solutions and advanced analytics applications, we help our health system and life sciences clients cultivate new patient relationships, improve patient access, and build customer loyalty. For more information, visit: https://partners.healthgrades.com. At Healthgrades, better health gets a head start.  

About MGMA
Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is the premier association for professionals who lead medical practices. Since 1926, through data, people, insights, and advocacy, MGMA empowers medical group practices to innovate and create meaningful change in healthcare. With a membership of more than 55,000 medical practice administrators, executives, and leaders, MGMA represents more than 15,500 organizations of all sizes, types, structures and specialties that deliver almost half of the healthcare in the United States. www.mgma.com.