Physician review Websites (PRW) are rapidly growing for-profit businesses. Most orthopedic surgeons are rated on at least one PRW as are other surgical specialists. To date the online ratings of spine surgeons have not been evaluated.

METHODS: Cervical Spine Research Society surgeon ratings on five physician rating Web sites were performed in April 2016: “healthgrade.com,” “vitals.com,” “ratemd.com,” “webmd.com,” and “yelp.com.” Numeric ratings from the PRWs were standardized on a scale of 0 to 100 with a higher score indicating positive ratings. Sex, practice sector (academic or private), specialty (orthopedics or neurosurgery), geographic location, and years of practice were also collected.

RESULTS: A total of 209 spine surgeons were included in our study. Of the 209 spine surgeons, 208 (99.52%) were rated at least once in one of the five PRWs. Average number of ratings per surgeon was 2.96. Average rating was 80 (40-100). There were four female (1.92%) and 204 male surgeons (98.1%). There were 121 (58.2%) in academic practice and 87 (41.8%) in private practice. There were 175 (84.1%) orthopedic surgeons and 33 (15.9%) neurosurgeons. Most of the surgeons were Caucasian 163 (78.4%) and worked in the South and Northeast 135 (64.9%). Those in academic practice had significantly higher ratings (81.6 vs. 77.65; P = 0.026). Number of years in practice was significantly associated with ratings (P = 0.0003) with those in practice for 21 or more years having significantly lower ratings.

CONCLUSION: In this first study evaluating the online ratings of spine surgeons, we found that 99.5% of spine surgeon had at least one rating on a PRW. The average score, 80, indicated mostly positive ratings. Being in practice for 20 years or less and being in academic practice significantly associated with higher ratings ¹⁾.

see Online Ratings of Neurosurgeons