Can patients find an Endocrine Surgeon? How hospital websites hide the expertise of these medical professionals.

BACKGROUND

With information on healthcare providers available on the internet, patient self-referral has become popular. This study serves to evaluate the ease with which patients can locate an Endocrine Surgeon using hospital websites.

METHODS

Websites of the 16 top academic hospitals from The US News and World Report's Hospital Rankings for 2018-2019 were accessed. Each "Find A Doctor" page was searched for: "thyroid nodule," "hyperparathyroidism," and "adrenal mass." Data for suggested providers was collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

Search results for "thyroid nodule" found Endocrine Surgeons as the predominant providers at 6% institutions, 25% suggested none. For "hyperparathyroidism," 31% institutions suggested a majority of Endocrine Surgeons, 19% suggested none. For "adrenal mass," 25% had Endocrine Surgeons as the predominant providers, 31% suggested none.

CONCLUSION

The majority of hospitals did not suggest Endocrine Surgeons as the predominant providers for the queried conditions, demonstrating the challenge patients face in finding an Endocrine Surgeon through hospital websites.