Physician Gender, Patient Risk and Online Reviews: A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship between Physicians’ Gender and Their Online Reviews (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danish Saifee ◽  
Matthew Hudnall ◽  
Uzma Raja

BACKGROUND Online reviews of physicians have become exceedingly popular among healthcare consumers since the early 2010s. A factor that can potentially influence these reviews is the gender of the physician since the physician's gender has been found to influence patient-physician communication. When studying the direct relationship between the gender of physicians and their online reviews, it is important to account for clinical characteristics, such as the patient risk, associated with a physician to isolate the direct effect of a physician’s gender on their online reviews. It is also important to account for temporal factors that can influence physicians and their online reviews. Our study is among the first to conduct rigorous longitudinal analysis to study the effects of the gender of physicians on their reviews after accounting for several important clinical factors, including patient risk, physician specialty, as well as temporal factors using time fixed-effects. This study is also among the first ones to study the possible gender bias in online reviews using statewide data from Alabama. OBJECTIVE This study conducts a longitudinal empirical investigation of the relationship between the gender of physicians and their online reviews using data across the state of Alabama after accounting for patient risk and temporal effects. METHODS We created a unique dataset by combining data from online physician reviews from a popular physician review website RateMDs and clinical data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the state of Alabama. We utilized longitudinal econometric specifications to conduct the econometric analysis and controlled for several important clinical and review characteristics, including patient risk, physician specialty and latent topics embedded in the textual comments of the online reviews. We utilized the four rating dimensions (helpfulness, knowledge, staff, and punctuality) and overall rating from RateMDs as the dependent variables and gender of the physicians as the key explanatory variable in our panel regression models. RESULTS The panel used to conduct most of the analysis had approximately 1093 physicians. After controlling for clinical factors such as Medicare patient risk, number of Medicare beneficiaries, number of services provided, and physician specialty, review factors such as latent topics embedded in the review comments, and number of words in the comments and year fixed effects, the physician random-effects specifications showed that male physicians receive better online ratings than female physicians. The coefficients and the corresponding standard errors, P values of the binary variable GenderFemale (1 for female physicians and 0 otherwise) with different rating variables as outcomes are as follows: OverallRating (Coefficient: -0.194, Std. Error: 0.060, P=.001), HelpfulnessRating (Coefficient: -0.221, Std. Error: 0.069, P=.001), KnowledgeRating (Coefficient: -0.230, Std. Error: 0.065, P<.001), StaffRating (Coefficient: -0.123, Std. Error: 0.062, P=.049) and PunctualityRating (Coefficient: -0.200, Std.Error: 0.067, P=.003). CONCLUSIONS This study finds that female physicians do indeed receive lower online ratings than male physicians, and this finding is consistent even after accounting for several clinical characteristics associated with the physicians and temporal effects. Even though the magnitude of the coefficients of GenderFemale is relatively small, they are statistically significant. The findings of this study provide support to the findings on gender bias in the existing healthcare literature. We contribute to the existing literature by conducting a study using data across the state of Alabama and utilizing a longitudinal econometric analysis along with incorporating important clinical and review controls associated with the physicians.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Barnett ◽  
Margrét Vilborg Bjarnadóttir ◽  
David Anderson ◽  
Chong Chen

BACKGROUND Prior research has highlighted gender differences in online physician reviews, however, to date no research has linked online ratings with quality of care. OBJECTIVE To compare a consumer-generated measure of physician quality (online ratings) with a clinical quality outcome (sanctions for malpractice or improper behavior), to understand how patients’ perception and evaluation of doctors differ based on the physician’s gender and quality. METHODS We use data from a large online doctor reviews website and the Federation of State Medical Boards. We implement paragraph vector methods to identify words that are specific to and indicative of the separate groups of physicians. We then enrich these findings by utilizing the NRC word-emotion association lexicon to assign emotional scores to the various segments: gender, gender and sanction, and gender and rating. RESULTS We find significant differences in the sentiment and emotion of reviews for male and female physicians. We find that numerical ratings are lower and the sentiment in text reviews is more negative for women who will be sanctioned than for men who will be sanctioned; sanctioned male doctors are still associated with positive reviews. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: Given the growing impact of online reviews on demand for physician services, understanding the different reviews faced by male and female physicians is important for consumers and for platform architects in order to revisit their platform design.


2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Chris Curran

Background/Context Teach for America (TFA) represents an influential yet controversial preparation route for new teachers. In recent years, TFA has received criticism from traditionally trained teachers and schools of education on the basis that they are crowding out or taking positions away from non-TFA teachers. Despite this criticism, research on TFA has tended to focus on its impact on student outcomes rather than on its implications for teacher labor markets. Research Questions This study explores the relationship between TFA placement in school districts in the Mississippi Delta and district advertised vacancies to provide the first evidence on the impact of TFA on teacher labor market outcomes. The questions addressed include the following: What is the relationship between TFA presence in a Mississippi school district and the number of district vacancies advertised through the state board of education? Do these relationships vary by characteristics of the vacancy such as grade level or subject area? Setting This study uses data on school districts in the state of Mississippi for an 11-year period from 2001 through 2011. Research Design This study utilizes two primary analytic strategies. The first encompasses school district and year fixed effects with a series of time-varying control variables to identify the impact of TFA placement off changes in the use of TFA by districts over time. The second approach capitalizes on an abrupt increase in the presence of TFA in Mississippi starting in 2009 by using a difference-in-differences design. A series of robustness and sensitivity checks are also included. Findings/Results The results indicate that the presence of TFA in a district predicts approximately 11 fewer advertised vacancies per year per district and that each additional TFA teacher placed in a district predicts approximately one less advertised vacancy. Conclusions/Recommendations The results indicate that in the Mississippi Delta, TFA appears to be filling teacher vacancies. This suggests that the continued use of TFA by districts may be a viable solution to addressing teacher shortages.


Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian McPhail

This study examines the effect of religious heterogamy on the transmission of religion from one generation to the next. Using data from 37 countries in the 2008 Religion III Module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), I conduct a cross-national analysis of the relationship between parents’ religious heterogamy and their adult childrens’ religious lives. By estimating fixed effects regression models, I adjust for national-level confounders to examine patterns of association between having interreligious parents during childhood and level of adult religiosity as measured by self-rated religiousness, belief in God, and frequencies of religious attendance and prayer. The results indicate that having religiously heterogamous parents or parents with dissimilar religious attendance patterns are both associated with lower overall religiosity in respondents. Parents’ religious attendance, however, mediates the relationship when each parent has a different religion. Having one unaffiliated parent is associated with lower religiosity regardless of parents’ levels of religious attendance. The negative impact of parents’ religious heterogamy on religious inheritance is independent of national-level factors and has implications for anticipating changes in the religious landscapes of societies characterized by religious diversity and growing numbers of interreligious marriages.


Author(s):  
Eleftherios Giovanis

This study examines the relationship between teleworking, gender roles and happiness of couples using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the Understanding Society Survey (USS) during the period 1991-2012. Various approaches are followed, including Probit-adapted fixed effects, multinomial Logit and Instrumental variables (IV). The results support that both men and women who are teleworkers spend more time on housework, while teleworking increases the probability that the household chores examined in this study, such as cooking, cleaning ironing and childcare, will be shared relatively to those who are non-teleworkers. In addition, women are happier when they or their spouse is teleworker, as well as, both men and women are happier when they state that the specific household chores are shared. Thus, women teleworkers may be happier because they can face the family demands and share the household chores with their spouse, increasing their fairness belief about the household division allocation and improving their well-being, expressed by happiness.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zackary Dunivin ◽  
Lindsay Zadunayski ◽  
Ujjwal Baskota ◽  
Katie Siek ◽  
Jennifer Mankoff

BACKGROUND Online physician reviews are an important source of information for prospective patients. In addition, they represent an untapped resource for studying the effects of gender on the doctor-patient relationship. Understanding gender differences in online reviews is important because it may impact the value of those reviews to patients. Documenting gender differences in patient experience may also help to improve the doctor-patient relationship. This is the first large-scale study of physician reviews to extensively investigate gender bias in online reviews or offer recommendations for improvements to online review systems to correct for gender bias and aid patients in selecting a physician. OBJECTIVE This study examines 154,305 reviews from across the United States for all medical specialties. Our analysis includes a qualitative and quantitative examination of review content and physician rating with regard to doctor and reviewer gender. METHODS A total of 154,305 reviews were sampled from Google Place reviews. Reviewer and doctor gender were inferred from names. Reviews were coded for overall patient experience (negative or positive) by collapsing a 5-star scale and coded for general categories (process, positive/negative soft skills), which were further subdivided into themes. Computational text processing methods were employed to apply this codebook to the entire data set, rendering it tractable to quantitative methods. Specifically, we estimated binary regression models to examine relationships between physician rating, patient experience themes, physician gender, and reviewer gender). RESULTS Female reviewers wrote 60% more reviews than men. Male reviewers were more likely to give negative reviews (odds ratio [OR] 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.19; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). Reviews of female physicians were considerably more negative than those of male physicians (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.94-2.14; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). Soft skills were more likely to be mentioned in the reviews written by female reviewers and about female physicians. Negative reviews of female doctors were more likely to mention candor (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.42-1.82; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) and amicability (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.47-1.90; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). Disrespect was associated with both female physicians (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.35-1.51; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) and female reviewers (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.19-1.35; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). Female patients were less likely to report disrespect from female doctors than expected from the base ORs (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04-1.32; <i>P</i>=.008), but this effect overrode only the effect for female reviewers. CONCLUSIONS This work reinforces findings in the extensive literature on gender differences and gender bias in patient-physician interaction. Its novel contribution lies in highlighting gender differences in online reviews. These reviews inform patients’ choice of doctor and thus affect both patients and physicians. The evidence of gender bias documented here suggests review sites may be improved by providing information about gender differences, controlling for gender when presenting composite ratings for physicians, and helping users write less biased reviews.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-283
Author(s):  
Dong Liang ◽  
Xia Wang

Purpose Online reviews have been indicated to play an important role in consumers’ decision-making process, as supported by numerous studies. However, none of them has considered the neighborhood effect of online reviews. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of neighbor store’s reviews on central store’s, along with the moderating effects of store density and product similarity. Design/methodology/approach Using data from dianping.com, this study conducts economic analysis accounting for endogeneity. Findings The results show that the neighbor store’s reviews exert a negative impact on that of central stores. Nevertheless, the relationship is moderated by store density and product similarity, such that the negative effect is stronger if there are a lot of stores around the central store, or if the neighbor store and central store provide similar products. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate the neighborhood effect of online reviews.


Author(s):  
William E. Powell

Many articles and books have been written about alienation and burnout. Although the concepts have been conceptually linked, no known empirical studies have demonstrated that relationship. Using data from a survey of social workers practicing in the State of Wisconsin, the author tested the hypothesis that the concepts of burnout and alienation are closely related. The findings support that hypothesis and suggest that some dimensions of alienation may be especially potent predictors of burnout among social workers.


10.2196/14455 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. e14455
Author(s):  
Zackary Dunivin ◽  
Lindsay Zadunayski ◽  
Ujjwal Baskota ◽  
Katie Siek ◽  
Jennifer Mankoff

Background Online physician reviews are an important source of information for prospective patients. In addition, they represent an untapped resource for studying the effects of gender on the doctor-patient relationship. Understanding gender differences in online reviews is important because it may impact the value of those reviews to patients. Documenting gender differences in patient experience may also help to improve the doctor-patient relationship. This is the first large-scale study of physician reviews to extensively investigate gender bias in online reviews or offer recommendations for improvements to online review systems to correct for gender bias and aid patients in selecting a physician. Objective This study examines 154,305 reviews from across the United States for all medical specialties. Our analysis includes a qualitative and quantitative examination of review content and physician rating with regard to doctor and reviewer gender. Methods A total of 154,305 reviews were sampled from Google Place reviews. Reviewer and doctor gender were inferred from names. Reviews were coded for overall patient experience (negative or positive) by collapsing a 5-star scale and coded for general categories (process, positive/negative soft skills), which were further subdivided into themes. Computational text processing methods were employed to apply this codebook to the entire data set, rendering it tractable to quantitative methods. Specifically, we estimated binary regression models to examine relationships between physician rating, patient experience themes, physician gender, and reviewer gender). Results Female reviewers wrote 60% more reviews than men. Male reviewers were more likely to give negative reviews (odds ratio [OR] 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.19; P<.001). Reviews of female physicians were considerably more negative than those of male physicians (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.94-2.14; P<.001). Soft skills were more likely to be mentioned in the reviews written by female reviewers and about female physicians. Negative reviews of female doctors were more likely to mention candor (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.42-1.82; P<.001) and amicability (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.47-1.90; P<.001). Disrespect was associated with both female physicians (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.35-1.51; P<.001) and female reviewers (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.19-1.35; P<.001). Female patients were less likely to report disrespect from female doctors than expected from the base ORs (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04-1.32; P=.008), but this effect overrode only the effect for female reviewers. Conclusions This work reinforces findings in the extensive literature on gender differences and gender bias in patient-physician interaction. Its novel contribution lies in highlighting gender differences in online reviews. These reviews inform patients’ choice of doctor and thus affect both patients and physicians. The evidence of gender bias documented here suggests review sites may be improved by providing information about gender differences, controlling for gender when presenting composite ratings for physicians, and helping users write less biased reviews.


Author(s):  
Hàng Lê Cẩm Phương ◽  
Hoang Minh Chau

The study explores the relationship between working capital and profitability using data collected from the financial statements of 17 food and beverage companies listed on HOSE and HNX from 2008 to 2017. The three models used in this research are Pooled Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects Model (FEM), Random Effects Model (REM). The results of the model tests show that REM is the most suitable. To enhance the reliability and efficiency of the model, we conduct robustness tests. The findings indicate the presence of heteroskedasticity in the model. Therefore, the adjusted REM with the GLS method is used to handle this issue. The results of the regression analysis reveal that when the average collection period increases, gross operating profit (GOP) decreases and return on assets (ROA) increases; the average payment period has a negative influence on ROA; cash conversion cycle has a negative influence on GOP and when the inventory period increases, ROA and GOP decrease.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Chris Curran

Recent evidence demonstrates that disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status in science achievement are present in the earliest grades of school. Preschool represents one potential policy solution; however, little research has explored the relationship between preschool attendance and science outcomes. This study examines whether preschool participation may improve science outcomes overall and reduce science achievement gaps by race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of 2011, this study uses school and classroom fixed effects models with a robust set of controls to estimate the relationship between preschool attendance and early science outcomes. Results suggest that attending preschool is predictive of higher teacher-rated science ability in the fall of kindergarten but that preschool is not predictive of higher science achievement in the spring of kindergarten. The relationship is not found to consistently differ by student race, socioeconomic status, or gender, though descriptive results demonstrate that subgroups have different patterns of preschool attendance. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.


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