UCSF Health's provider review process

About our review process

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

Who receives the survey?

The survey is electronically mailed to all UCSF Health patients within a few days of a clinic appointment, except when someone was already surveyed in the previous two weeks. We receive more than 100,000 survey responses yearly from patients who received care in our clinics.

Are all comments posted?

The vast majority of comments are posted. The questions used for online reviews come from the provider section of the survey and are standardized questions used nationally. The survey is managed by Press Ganey, a company that works with more than 10,000 health care organizations in the United States. Press Ganey also manages the star ratings process.

We share both positive and negative comments about a provider (submitted in the prior two years) except for comments using:

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

Using these exclusion criteria, 94% of all comments received are posted.

Why don't we see patient 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 doctor before we post their rating and comments.
A doctor’s rating will be shown only if that person works in the outpatient setting (in the clinic rather than the hospital).
Pediatric provider reviews are not yet shown.

Other general guidelines