Factors Which Are Important To Women When Considering A Surgeon For Breast Reconstruction
Amanda R. Sergesketter, MD1, Shravika Lam, BS2, Hannah C. Langdell, MD1, Jennifer K. Plichta, MD1, Sharon Clancy, MD1, Kristen Rezak, MD1, Brett T. Phillips, MD, MBA1, Scott T. Hollenbeck, MD1.
1Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, 2Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
PURPOSE: Implicit bias may influence patients’ decisions when selecting a surgeon. We aimed to determine whether demographic or perceived competency factors influence how women choose a surgeon for breast cancer reconstruction.
METHODS: An online survey was distributed via Amazon Mechanical Turk to 1,000 women ≥18yo. Women were asked to imagine a scenario in which they had breast cancer and were choosing a surgeon for reconstruction, then asked to rank factors influencing this decision (1-7 Likert scale). Bivariate regression was used to estimate the association between participant age and Likert scores.
RESULTS: When choosing a breast reconstruction surgeon, women assigned highest scores (mean±SD) to online reviews on Vitals or WebMD (6.1±1.2), >10 years of experience (5.7±1.4), surgeon recommendations (5.7±1.3), and attending a top 20 medical school (4.7±1.7). Lowest ranked factors were online advertising and surgeon demographics, including race, political affiliation, age, and religion, Figure 1. While older women were more likely to value surgeon religion, length of practice, proximity to home, and personal recommendations, younger women more often valued having a surgeon of the same gender with online advertising (all p<0.05).
CONCLUSION: When choosing a breast reconstruction provider, women place the highest value on reputation. Though most show no preference for surgeon demographic or physical attributes, older and younger women may have different values. Cognizance of these preferences may enable providers to more effectively meet patient expectations. 
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