Are 5-Star reviews good for our health?
The 5-star review. Have you ever been told that when giving reviews that only 5 stars matter? That in order for the person or institution that you are reviewing to get anything, but 5 stars is meaningless at best and potentially detrimental their careers or business. In this case, the study found that telemedicine doctors got better reviews when they provided unnecessary antibiotics to their patients.
Sadly, because of the prevalence of reviewing websites and systems, this study suggests that doctors may get rewarded for not giving the best practice. Everyone wants that 5-star rating as there can be a direct impact on a career or business. In the case of medicine, I would think that the last thing we want as a country is to have our doctors judged and rewarded by their star ratings. The outcomes of such a system can be extremely negative.
In this study, the potential over-prescribing of antibiotics while giving the doctor higher ratings can have a hugely negative impact on the health of our nation by reducing the effectiveness of these drugs. Would you rather have the surgeon who smiles and makes you feel really good and gets 5 stars because of media savvy or the surgeon who does not say much, is all business but has the best hands?
We all want the best care and the best of everything and it seems that the media based review systems that are running our commercial lives these days may not be as helpful as we think.
[Patient Satisfaction Ratings May Be A Factor In Doctor’s Prescribing Behavior : Shots - Health News : NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/10/03/653446952/patients-give-doctors-high-marks-for-prescribing-antibiotics-for-common-sniffles)