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UCSF Health's provider review process

At UCSF Health, we are committed to understanding and improving our patients’ health care experience. As part of this commitment, we seek feedback from every patient following a UCSF outpatient visit and post the ratings online. All posted comments come from verified UCSF Health patients.

Who receives the survey?

The survey is emailed to all UCSF Health patients within a few days of a clinic appointment unless they were already surveyed in the previous two weeks. Each year, we obtain more than 45,000 surveys from patients who receive care in our clinics.

The questions come from the physician section of a standardized survey that is used nationally. The survey is managed by Press Ganey Associates, a company that works with more than 10,000 health care organizations in the U.S. The star ratings process is managed by NRC Health.

Are all comments posted?

We share both positive and negative comments about the provider from the prior two years, except for those that contain any of the following:

  • Offensive, inflammatory, slanderous, discriminatory, libelous or profane language
  • Names or detailed descriptions that jeopardize patient privacy or confidentiality

Using these criteria, we post 94 percent of all comments received.

If any portion of a comment meets the exclusion criteria described above, the entire comment is excluded from the review.

Identifying details in a comment may be redacted and marked as such to protect patient privacy and the privacy of staff members who are not the subject of the review.

We don’t edit the wording of patients’ comments. They appear as submitted, aside from the exceptions above.

Why don't I see ratings and comments for every provider?

  • A minimum amount of data is needed to provide an accurate picture. We require at least 30 surveys and five comments per provider before we post a rating and comments.
  • Ratings are shown only for providers who work in the outpatient setting.
  • Pediatrician reviews are not yet shown, as we are currently working on improvements to the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals website.

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