Patient-Rated Trust of Spine Surgeons: Influencing Factors.

Total academic proclivity via indexed publications does not correlate with patient perceived physician trustworthiness among spine surgeons as reported on physician review websites. Furthermore, region of practice within the United States does not have an influence on these trust scores. Likewise, there is no difference in trust score between female and male spine surgeons. This study also highlights an increasing utility for physician rating websites in spine surgery for evaluating and monitoring patient perception.