Patient gave Utah oncologist 4 stars for saving his life, leaving the doctor with one question

Whether you are a salesman or a doctor, keeping everyone happy is nearly impossible, and Dr. Mark Lewis (@marklewismd), a gastrointestinal oncologist from Utah, can definitely vouch for it. Well, on April 2, 2024, he took to X to share a screenshot of a review from a patient he treated. It read, "Dr. Lewis saved my life!" but the patient gave him 4 out of 5 stars. Lewis humorously captioned it, "Honestly, don't know how to earn that 5th star." To date, his post has received over 5 million views and 16,000 likes.

It caught the governor’s eye

What started as a funny tweet went so viral that the Governor of Utah, Spencer James Cox, noticed and reposted this page. Reacting to it, Dr. Lewis replied, "Sorry for letting the state of Utah down, @GovCox — I’ll try harder next time." Taking the joke further, the gastrointestinal oncologist recalled how a senior doctor had already warned him about it. He wrote, "One of my attendings in fellowship warned me: 'Mark, you can’t make them live longer than people without cancer,' so maybe I overpromised and underdelivered?" Meanwhile, another doctor, Dr. Chris Huffer, also shared a similar incident with a screenshot as proof. He wrote, "Could have been worse," referencing the 3-star review he got. The patient wrote, "Dr. Huffer saved my life! I thank God for him and his skill."

Viral review paints a bigger picture

As the tweet became more popular, news outlets reached out to Dr. Lewis to ask his thoughts on the patient's review and why he shared it. "I just thought the juxtaposition was so funny, and I fired [the post] off without thinking," Dr. Lewis told Healio. He also discussed it with his fellow physicians, and they concluded that taking care of a patient and the results were just a small part of the patient's experience. The doctor explained, "Even if we deliver on the treatment plan we formulated, things like parking, wait times, and costs of care can all be potential for patient dissatisfaction — it all gets wrapped into how they view their experience."

Real reason behind the 4-stars

After speaking to the patient, Dr. Lewis finally discovered the reason behind the 4-star review. It turned out that the patient was upset because they had to wait for a long time before getting an appointment with the doctor. "The currency we're all spending here is time. I try to keep it under 2 weeks, but if a patient has to wait to get in to see me, it can be frustrating," Dr. Lewis acknowledged.

Obsession with online reviews

People, especially Americans, are obsessed with reviews. In fact, a Plum Guide survey found that more than half (67%) of Americans are obsessed with reading reviews. Now, the problem with reviews is that some can be fake or misleading, as in the case of Dr. Lewis' review. What's more concerning is Americans' dependence on such reviews. A YouGov survey found that reviews play a huge role in people's decision-making process. In fact, 87% of respondents feel star ratings are important, with 34% saying it is "very" important.

5 stars? That's for resurrection

Meanwhile, the comment section was filled with hilarious replies and advice on how Dr. Lewis could have done better. For instance, @rita_strack commented, "Could have saved their life faster, I guess." Similarly, @willspagnoli wrote, "'He may have saved my life, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t die from boredom on that operating table. He should learn to juggle while performing surgeries to make the experience more entertaining for patients.'"

You can follow Dr. Mark Lewis (@marklewismd) on X for more medical content.

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