Pittsburgh-based UPMC will join the ranks of seven other health systems this week in posting patient satisfaction surveys and star ratings of physicians online, according to the Tribune-Review.
The ratings are based on 200,000 reviews of more than 1,600 physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives and other providers, collected by South Bend, Ind.-based Press Ganey. Each email survey includes six questions on the patient's experience with the provider, according to the report. The UPMC website will host ratings of providers up to five stars if they have received a minimum of 30 patient surveys in 18 months, according to the report.
UPMC will also initially include 20,000 comments from email outpatient surveys with the ratings. The health system said it plans to publish most comments and ratings, save those with profanity and secure information, though physicians with negative comments will have the opportunity to appeal the comments to a board of peers, according to the report.
The star ratings are modeled after those of Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health Care.
"In general, you'll see the good and the bad," Tami Minnier, UPMC's chief quality officer told the Tribune-Review. "We want to reinforce to our patients that we hear you, and we take your feedback seriously."
UPMC physician rankings average 4.8 out of five stars with the lowest falling at 3.7, according to the report.
More articles on integration and physician issues:
Healthcare's silent shortage
Physician leaders want to hold physicians accountable for costs and quality
New Orleans replacement hospital opens 10 years after Hurricane Katrina