Turns Out Most Patients Actually Like Their Radiologists

The doctor-patient relationship isn’t always smooth sailing. The exam room is a vulnerable space for patients where some feel like their health is being scrutinized. Others complain that they don’t get enough face time with their physician, take for example this one 2013 study that found medical interns only spend 12 percent of their working hours in direct service with their patients. However, radiologists might be outlier in the industry. According to a study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, radiologists receive overall positive feedback from their patients.

Researchers evaluated 1,891 patient reviews for 1,259 radiologists via RateMDs.com in cities that had populations greater than 100,000. Most commonly, patients scored their radiologists on opposite sides of the spectrum. Using a system of one (terrible) to five (excellent), they found that between 62.7 to 74.3 percent of reviewers rated their radiologists with ‘five’, 13.5 to 20.4 percent scored the radiologists with ‘one’, and 1.9 to 11.6 percent rated them between ‘two’ and ‘four’. In Northeast cities, radiologists scored lower in staff and punctuality categories than in other regions. The most common descriptors in the reviews were “pain,” “rude,” “caring,” “knowledgeable,” and “professional.”

The “halo effect”, or the belief that someone’s perception of another’s characteristics influences their overall impression of that person, was attributed to the results. “Radiologists should recognize the effect of both facility- and radiologist-related factors in influencing patients’ overall perceptions,” write the researchers.