Most people like their doctors. What they don’t like is the hassle of getting to see their doctors and the bills.
An analysis of nearly 35,000 online reviews of doctors nationwide found that only one of 25 received low ratings from patients concerning the quality of health care provided.
The other 96 percent of patient complaints cited poor communications, disorganization and excessive delays in seeing a doctor as causes of dissatisfaction.
The study was done by Vanguard Communications, a company specializing in specialty medical practices, and published in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Practice Management.
“The nearly unanimous consensus is that in terms of impact on patient satisfaction, the waiting room trumps the exam room,” said Ron Harman King, a co-author of the article.
“Our story uncovered a torrent of patient allegations of doctors running behind schedule, excessive waiting time to see a provider, billing problems, indifferent staff and doctors’ bedside manners,” he said. “Yet hardly anyone had a beef with the quality of health care received.”
