A pattern unfavorable overview from Yelp of a well being system that was included within the research. Credit score: Penn Medication.
Can easy phrases like “and” or “then” in on-line critiques assist well being care suppliers study their sufferers’ experiences?
New analysis exhibits they will, with a brand new evaluation displaying that the commonest theme in unfavorable critiques of well being care amenities concerned communication and administrative points, whereas complimentary critiques targeted on reassuring and gratifying interactions with clinicians and employees. This was uncovered by an evaluation of the precise phrases and phrases utilized in on-line critiques, which was then used to seek out correlations with optimistic or unfavorable critiques.
The work was accomplished by a research crew on the Perelman College of Medication on the College of Pennsylvania who revealed their findings in JAMA Community Open.
As a result of so many are guided of their selections by on-line critiques of many various industries and merchandise, the researchers view on-line critiques as an untapped useful resource for locating true affected person sentiments.
“The current ways in which health care facilities measure the patient experience and then take action often takes a lot of time, creating a system that lags between the actual encounter and improvements,” stated senior writer Anish Agarwal, MD, MPH, deputy director of the Middle for Insights to Outcomes and an assistant professor of Emergency Medication. “If the real-time data from online reviews could be incorporated into tools that are easily viewed by health systems and their providers, they could make almost immediate changes for more positive experiences.”
An instance of a optimistic overview of a well being care facility that was included within the research. Credit score: Penn Medication.
The researchers analyzed knowledge from greater than one million Yelp critiques spanning seven years (2017 by way of 2023) of just about 139,000 well being care amenities throughout the USA. Utilizing an information evaluation instrument referred to as the Differential Language Evaluation ToolKit (DLATK), they particularly checked out 1- and 2-star (unfavorable) critiques, in addition to 4- and 5-star (optimistic) critiques.
The unfavorable
Roughly 46% of all critiques had been 1- or 2-stars. The phrase “not” someplace within the textual content correlated most strongly to the unfavorable critiques. Fee points and poor therapy had been most strongly tied to unfavorable critiques, virtually equally.
Communication was a quite common theme among the many phrases the researchers decided to be correlated to unfavorable critiques. “Told,” “Said,” “Call,” and “Asked” had been among the many prime phrases related to dangerous critiques. Earlier work by Agarwal and his colleagues had additionally highlighted “told” as the commonest time period in unfavorable on-line hospital critiques.
Cellphone conversations (and the maintain instances related to them) had been widespread unfavorable themes, together with emotions of unfair cost experiences and notion of poor medical therapy, though the latter was not as widespread because the researchers believed it might be, Agarwal stated.
The optimistic
Greater than 50% of the analyzed critiques had been 4- or 5-stars, with “and” as the highest time period related to these critiques by margin, adopted by “great.”
Constructive interactions with clinicians and employees emphasizing kindness was a prime theme within the optimistic critiques. “Friendly,” “helpful,” and “kind,” had been all prime phrases. In keeping with the evaluation, the flexibility of employees to alleviate sufferers’ anxiousness was additionally a prime theme uncovered, leading to “nervous” and “scared” being phrases that had been really related to optimistic critiques.
Pushing towards the optimistic
Well being care critiques took a big dip amid the COVID pandemic, and the emotions have but to rebound. Nevertheless, the analysis crew believes that their work factors to actual alternatives to enhance care.
“We believe these are systemic issues rather than isolated complaints,” stated first writer Neil Sehgal, ME, an affiliate fellow within the Penn Leonard Davis Institute for Well being Economics. “We’re interested in understanding how specific facility characteristics, such as size, ownership, or patient volume, might shape patient sentiment and communication challenges.”
Agarwal is especially all for understanding extra in regards to the well being care amenities who constantly rating nicely.
“I’d love to see where and which hospitals consistently knock this out of the park and, despite the last five to ten years, continue to provide high-quality and highly well-regarded care,” Agarwal stated. “If we spend more time learning from those doing it well, we can all move forward.”
Extra data:
Neil Ok.R. Sehgal et al, On-line Evaluations of Well being Care Amenities, JAMA Community Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.24505
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Perelman College of Medication on the College of Pennsylvania
Quotation:
‘And’ vs. ‘Then’: What phrases in on-line critiques inform us about hospital visits (2025, August 1)
retrieved 1 August 2025
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