Characterizing negative reviews of orthopedic spine surgeons and practices

Choosing a surgeon is a complex process for patients. The large majority of negative reviews were related to nonclinical issues such as poor bedside manner or rude staff and most of these were written by patients that did not undergo a surgical procedure. This may explain the large discrepancy that has been observed between quality metrics and online crowd-sourced reviews. Paying attention to these nonclinical factors may represent the most feasible and valuable targets to improve a surgeon's practice and attract future patients.