U.K. physicians, nurses largely unaware of online patient feedback

U.K. policymakers are pushing for medical staff to use more patient feedback to inform future treatment, but a new study finds that only about a quarter of physicians and nurses there are aware of patient feedback on health care they provided. Here’s more on the study:

• The study: Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 registered physicians and nearly 800 nurses and midwives.
• The findings: Only about 1 in 5 doctors and 1 in 10 nurses had read online feedback about themselves as medical professionals. Doctors were more likely than nurses to believe that online feedback is not representative of their care and generally negative in tone.
• The takeaway: The differences in how doctors and nurses responded to the survey suggest lawmakers may want to consider different strategies for how the two groups incorporate patient feedback, the authors write.