Healthy reviews! The impact of online physician ratings on healthcare outcomes

Michael Kummer, Cyrus Rich, Ulrich Laitenberger, Danny Hughes, Turgay Ayer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

We show that review platforms reduce healthcare interruptions for patients look- ing for a new physician. We employ a difference-in-differences strategy using physi- cian retirements as a “disruptive shock” that forces patients to find a new physician. Using insurance claims data combined with web-scraped physician reviews, we show that physician reviews help patients find a new physician faster. Our results are robust to including a variety of controls and various instruments for the availability of physician reviews, but are not found for patients of nonretiring physicians. By reducing interruptions in care, reviews can improve clinical outcomes and lower costs.
Original languageEnglish
JournalAcademy of Management Proceedings
Volume2022
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2022
Externally publishedYes

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