Association Between Web-Based Physician Ratings and Physician Disciplinary Convictions: Retrospective Observational Study.

Background: Physician rating websites are commonly used by the public, yet the relationship between web-based physician ratings and health care quality is not well understood.

Objective: The objective of our study was to use physician disciplinary convictions as an extreme marker for poor physician quality and to investigate whether disciplined physicians have lower ratings than nondisciplined matched controls.

Methods: This was a retrospective national observational study of all disciplined physicians in Canada (751 physicians, 2000 to 2013).