The strengths and weaknesses of emergency departments and urgent care centres
The results of a recent study by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that analysed Yelp reviews highlight the strengths and weaknesses of emergency departments and urgent care centres. The researchers identified key themes in the five-star reviews of emergency departments, including bedside manner, treatment of family members, and access to care on nights and weekends. Urgent care centres were unique in receiving five-star reviews more often for factors including ease of refilling prescriptions and being positively recommended by others. Emergency departments received negative remarks for speed of care, while urgent care centres received one-star reviews as a result of poor reception experiences and patients lacking confidence in the care received.
“Today's world is very digital, and it's very common for consumers to rate a restaurant, hotel or service online, a practice that is spilling over into healthcare,” said the study's lead author Dr Anish Agarwal, a National Clinician Scholars Fellow and Emergency Medicine Physician at Penn Medicine. “As an emergency department physician, patients often tell me that the internet is the first place they go for information about medical conditions and to research providers. Health systems and clinicians can learn a lot about the communities they treat and how people experience the services they provide by looking to online ratings and reviews.”
“We are seeing more and more that patients are sharing their experiences online, and they're looking to social media platforms and online communities to help inform their decision making,” said Kevin B. Mahoney, Executive Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “Within these review and rating websites lies a trove of decision-making data that we can and should be culling through to help inform how care is delivered, and what matters most to our patients in emergency situations.”