Consumers consider online reviews important for choosing physicians, but they should be wary of using those ratings to choose plastic surgeons. The reviews tend to be polarized, and some are written by people whom consulted with the doctor but never had surgery, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

The study examined online ratings of doctors who performed cosmetic breast augmentation in six major U.S. cities.

In reviews by patients who had cosmetic breast augmentation, patients’ treatment by the surgeon’s staff was nearly as important to them as the outcome of the surgery.