by
Yiwei Chen,
Seminar date: 3/20/2019
Description: User-generated physician ratings from online sources are increasingly popular, but since consumers typically lack the ability to evaluate clinical quality, it is unclear whether these ratings actually help patients. Using the universe of Yelp physician ratings matched with Medicare claims, I find that overall, Yelp ratings seem to benefit patients—they convey physicians’ interpersonal skills and are positively correlated with their clinical abilities, they steer patients to higher-rated physicians, and evidence does not suggest that physicians overprescribe harmful substances after they are rated online. Intended Audience: Health policy researchers and practitioners who are interested in online physician ratings and how econometrics methods can be used to study this topic.
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