‘Deceptive reviews,’ often generated by AI, can influence decisions about who patients trust with their care, says the author of a new SFU study
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Health-care patients are more likely to believe fake online reviews for a doctor over a genuine comment, raising concerns about the quality of care they may receive, according to a new study from Simon Fraser University.
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“Sometimes it’s pretty easy to say, ‘Oh this doctor is great because he has 100 positive reviews.’ But would most clinics even have 100 reviews? That’s a red flag,” said Aishwarya Deep Shukla, associate professor at SFU’s Beedie School of Business and lead author of the study.
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The analysis, published in Internet Research, looked at 35,000 reviews that spanned medical specialties from family medicine to dentistry and dermatology. Of those, researchers confirmed about 24 per cent were fraudulent by using a system that checks email identification.
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Researchers also analyzed patients’ responses to determine how trustworthy the reviews were, and what they discovered was that fake reviews had the highest trustworthy score.
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Shukla said this is because the fake reviews typically provide more detail that make the patient believe the clinic has helped with specific concerns. For example, the reviewer might describe intimate details of a debilitating knee condition that couldn’t be treated anywhere else but at a specific clinic.
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“So they would generally weave a very believable story that this is a patient who has gone through this, is really an expert, and then they would describe their symptoms. Some of them even list medications, which is not something most people want to make public,” he said.
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“A real patient might simply say a doctor was helpful, while a fake review tells a detailed story about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.”
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Although the study analyzed reviews in India, Shukla said the problem exists in B.C. as well, especially among clinics that have a high level of competition.
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Under the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C.’s advertising rules, physicians are barred from using patient testimonials or comparative advertising because online reviews are considered unverified and can mislead patients. However, that doesn’t apply to many clinics such as dentists, counsellors, and physiotherapists.
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The problem is that fraudulent reviews are influencing people’s decisions on who to trust with their care, from dentists, chiropractors, and physiotherapists to mental health and counselling, said Shukla.
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“It is outright unethical for a (health-care) provider to post fake narratives. So I wouldn’t trust their judgment,” he said, adding patients could go to a clinic with an expectation of quality care and receive very poor treatment.
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Most of the clinics that had fake reviews were newer clinics that were looking to boost their number of patients, he added.
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Shukla is advocating stronger safeguards, such as appointment-linked review systems, authenticated anonymous reviews, and stronger moderation practices.
