Online Physician Reviews Offer Information and Transparency for Patients at National Jewish Health

Consumers use online ratings to help make decisions on which products to buy and services to use, and that approach is extending to health care. To help patients make informed health care decisions, National Jewish Health now provides increased information about its doctors through a new system that publishes online patient reviews and comments about its doctors.

“We believe that publishing this information offers a more transparent view of our organization and our doctors and in turn, leads to increased satisfaction for our patients and prospective patients,” explained Steve Frankel, MD, Chief Medical Officer at National Jewish Health. “We’ve been surveying patients and reviewing their comments for many years and have always used those comments internally to inform and improve our performance. Publishing the reviews online only makes sense.”

The online patient reviews and comments are gathered by Press Ganey, an independent research firm that focuses on patient research. Press Ganey administers the surveys to National Jewish Health patients shortly after their appointments. These survey results will now be posted to the National Jewish Health website on its doctor biography pages.

The surveys offer the advantage of coming from verified actual patients and their families, and offer a more complete and representative sampling of patient opinions than found on sites like Yelp or Healthgrades. Each year more than 6,000 National Jewish Health patients provide feedback about their experience through the Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey.

The physician ratings use a five star system based on 10 survey questions about specific aspects of the patients’ experience, such as friendliness and using clear language. More than 90 percent of National Jewish Health physicians rate 4.5 or higher. Patients also have the ability to leave comments as a part of their survey. All comments are posted, edited only if they contain protected patient information or are otherwise inappropriate.

Initially, the National Jewish Health website includes reviews for more than 80 physicians. Once physicians have been rated by 30 or more patients, and have been with the organization for six months or longer, reviews and comments start being posted to the site. The addition of the physician reviews is part of an overall strategy to provide a better online experience for patients. A new, more responsive website launched on September 12 and features a fresh mobile-friendly design that provides a one-stop-shop for information about key specialties and conditions. Additionally, the site includes more than 6,000 pages of health information.

To access a physician review, go to njhealth.org and click Find a Doctor on the homepage. Review information is summarized at the top of provider profile pages and is detailed in the Patient Reviews & Comments section of the page.