• Timothy Ryan, Jessica Specht, Sarah Smith, and John M DelGaudio.
• Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
• Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2016 Sep 1; 155 (3): 411-5.

ObjectivesAnalyze the correlation between online-based review websites and the Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey (PGPSS) in an academic otolaryngology department.Study DesignRetrospective cross sectional.SettingTertiary academic institution.MethodsAll available data were collected for Vitals.com and Healthgrades.com, along with PGPSS data for 16 otolaryngology attending physicians from 2012 to 2014. A mean rating was calculated for each topic category for online websites and compared with 7 PGPSS content questions using zero-order correlations. A paired t test was used to analyze the difference between the PGPSS and online scores.ResultsThere were no statistically significant correlations between time spent with the patient (r = 0.391, P = .208) and overall provider scores (r = 0.193, P = .508) when compared between Vitals.com and the PGPSS. The correlations were not statistically significant when Healthgrades.com was compared with the PGPSS in the items "probability of recommending the provider" (r = -0.122, P = .666) and "trust in provider" (r = -0.025, P = .929). The most important factors in a patient recommending the provider were as follows, per resource: time spent with the patient for Vitals.com (r = 0.685, P = .014), listening for Healthgrades.com (r = 0.981, P ≤ .001), and trust in the provider for the PGPSS (r = 0.971, P ≤ .001).ConclusionThis study suggests that online-based reviews do not have statistically significant correlations with the widely used PGPSS and may not be an accurate source of information for patients. Patients should have access to the most reliable and least biased surveys available to the public to allow for better-informed decisions regarding their health care.© American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.

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