Analysis of Online Reviews for Skull Base Neurosurgeons in Private and Academic Practice

Introduction: The decision-making process for selecting a surgeon is influenced by factors such as referrals, performance data, reputation, and online reviews, the latter of which significantly guide patients’ decisions. While the relationship between patient care and online reviews has been studied, there is a gap in comparing review volumes between private and academic practitioners. This study aims to compare the volume of online reviews for skull base neurosurgeons across different practice affiliations to determine if practice setting is a significant factor in a surgeon's online footprint. Methods: This observational study extracted data for 132 board-certified U.S. skull base neurosurgeons from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) database. Data included practice affiliation, years in practice, and online reviews from services like Google Reviews, Healthgrades, WebMD, and Vitals. The sample consisted of 71 university academic (53.8%), 50 private non-academic (37.9%), and 11 private academic (8.3%) neurosurgeons. Results: Online ratings were overwhelmingly positive, with 90.67% of all reviews being five stars. To assess for differences in review volume, an Independent-Samples Median Test was performed. The analysis revealed no statistically significant difference in the median number of reviews among the three affiliation groups (p=0.963). Furthermore, pairwise comparisons between each group (e.g., private non-academic vs. university academic) also showed no significant differences. Conclusion: Our study concludes that a skull base neurosurgeon's practice affiliation does not significantly impact the volume of online reviews they receive. Given that the vast majority of reviews are five-star, future research should explore other factors that influence a surgeon's online reputation and the role of reviews in patient decision-making. These findings provide a foundation for broader investigations, such as comparing review patterns between specialty and general neurosurgeons. Next steps include creating a survey to assess patient-surgeon selection criteria. However, there may be a substantial difference in the online reviews between general neurosurgeons vs skull base neurosurgeons. Publication History Article published online: 27 February 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany