TripAdvisor-style patient feedback as good as formal surveys for choice

Unsolicited TripAdvisor-style patient feedback on the healthcare service is just as good as formal surveys, new research has suggested. Indeed, patients should use it to guide their choice of hospital, while it could be beneficial for doctors in improving the quality of care they deliver, the large comparative analysis of both approaches has found. Presented at the 17th International Forum on Quality & Safety in Healthcare in Paris last week and published in BMJ Quality and Safety, the study looked in depth at just under 10,000 unsolicited online posts from patients rating the care they had received at 146 acute…