Characterizing the Online Presence of Interventional Radiologists: A Potential Marketing Opportunity

Purpose Patients increasingly utilize online resources to access healthcare information. Over the years, there has been an increasing trend of websites that allow patients to review their physicians. In many instances, the information found on these websites can be inaccurate or obsolete. This can affect patients' ability to make informed decisions about their provider choices. The need for interventional radiologists (IRs) is expected to rise due to an increasing demand for minimally invasive procedures. However, there is a lack of research regarding their online presence. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the online presence of IRs in the United States. Materials The Physicians Compare National Downloadable File (PCNDF) from the Center for Medicare Services was used to identify a sample of IRs in the United States. Then, a Google Custom Search Engine was created to parse the first ten search results for each physician using a set of search parameters. A coded script analyzed the URL contents of each link and placed the search results into one of the following categories: health or hospital system, third-party, social media, academic journal, or other. Results A total of 1,666 IRs were included for analysis. The results are as follows: 26.94% were from hospital or health systems, 66.93% were from third-party websites, 5.48% were from social media sites, 0.02% were from academic journals, and 0.64% were from other. Conclusion The online presence of IRs is primarily controlled by third-party websites, many of which do not allow physicians to manage their content. As the field of interventional radiology continues to grow; a great opportunity exists for physicians to expand their digital presence to more accurately reflect their practice.