CAREER: Choosing Wisely: Leveraging User-Generated Doctor Ratings

这项研究将提高我们对互联网上用户生成的医生评级的认识，从而为改进这些系统和增加它们的价值提供基础，从而为消费者提供更好的选择。在这样做的过程中，这项研究将在我们对在线声誉系统的理解方面取得更广泛的进展。本研究有三个目的：(1)考察在线医生评分的供应情况，包括其流行程度、增长趋势以及影响评分发布行为的因素；(2)评估在线医生评分的知情程度，特别是这些评分是否真实反映了医生的素质，或者是否存在偏见和误导；(3)了解在线医生评分的使用和影响。尽管在线医生评分越来越受欢迎，但令人惊讶的是，对这一新兴趋势的研究却很少。是什么促使患者提供在线评分？评分在多大程度上反映了医生的临床质量？患者如何使用这些评分，他们的决定如何受到影响？在什么情况下，患者在使用在线医生评分时应该谨慎？是否可以改进用户界面设计和信息显示，使评分更有用？这项研究是对这些基本问题的第一次系统研究。本研究的结果将对医疗保健质量透明度的政策和实践产生直接影响。它们对老年人尤其有益，因为老年人需要更多的医疗服务，但它们也将被纳入新的大学课程。此外，研究完成后，研究方法和非专有数据将会公开，以进一步加强研究和教育基础设施。

This research will advance our knowledge of user-generated doctor ratings on the Internet, thereby providing the basis for improving these systems and increasing their value for better consumer choices. In so doing, the research will achieve a more general advance in our understanding of online reputation systems. The study has three aims: (1) to examine the supply of online doctor ratings, including their prevalence, growth trends, and the factors that affect rating posting behavior; (2) to assess the informedness of online doctor ratings, especially whether these ratings truly reflect the quality of the doctor or whether they are biased and misleading, and (3) to understand the use and impacts of online doctor ratings.Despite the growing popularity of online physician ratings, there is surprisingly little study of this emerging trend. What motivates patients to provide online ratings? To what degree do the ratings reflect a doctor's clinical quality? How do patients use these ratings, and how are their decisions affected as a result? In what situations should patients be cautious when using online doctor ratings? Can the user interface design and information display be improved to make the ratings more useful? The research represents the first systematic study of these fundamental questions.Findings from this study will have a direct impact on the policy and practice of quality transparency in healthcare. They will be particularly beneficial for senior citizens, who require more medical services, but they also will be incorporated into new college curriculum. Furthermore, upon completion of the study, the methods and non-proprietary data will be made publicly available to further enhance the research and education infrastructure.