Topic: Docs try to stop patients' online reviews....
Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
Anybody read about this? Or have any patients out there been asked to sign an agreement like this?
Apparently docs don't like patients telling it like it is. Boo-hoo. Sure, I can see potential for abuse in the online review process, but when I read accounts right here on this board of so many OUTRAGEOUS encounters with arrogant or idiot docs, well...... perhaps the truth just hurts too much for some of these MDs.
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Docs seek gag orders to stop patients' reviews By Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer Mar 4, 2009
CHICAGO...`` The anonymous comment on the Web site RateMDs.com was unsparing: "Very unhelpful, arrogant," it said of a doctor. "Did not listen and cut me off, seemed much too happy to have power (and abuse it!) over suffering people."
Such reviews are becoming more common as consumer ratings services like Zagat's and Angie's List expand beyond restaurants and plumbers to medical care, and some doctors are fighting back.
They're asking patients to agree to what amounts to a gag order that bars them from posting negative comments online.
"Consumers and patients are hungry for good information" about doctors, but Internet reviews provide just the opposite, contends Dr. Jeffrey Segal, a North Carolina neurosurgeon who has made a business of helping doctors monitor and prevent online criticism....
His company, Medical Justice, is based in Greensboro, N.C. For a fee, it provides doctors with a standardized waiver agreement. Patients who sign agree not to post online comments about the doctor, "his expertise and/or treatment."
"Published comments on Web pages, blogs and/or mass correspondence, however well intended, could severely damage physician's practice," according to suggested wording the company provides.
Segal's company advises doctors to have all patients sign the agreements. If a new patient refuses, the doctor might suggest finding another doctor. Segal said he knows of no cases where longtime patients have been turned away for not signing the waivers.
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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Leelee
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19112
posted
I guess I see where a malicious, unfounded rant posted on the web could really hurt a physician's practice.
On the other hand, there is freedom of speech which is a core principle (and rightly so) of our beliefs as Americans.
I don't know what to think. I have been to so many doctors that deserve to be crucified (IMO), but it's not in my nature to do that, even anonymously.
-------------------- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King,Jr Posts: 1573 | From Maryland | Registered: Feb 2009
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But, we are allowed to rate hotels and everything else, why not doctors?
I think the doctors are stuck, if they give medicine they are at risk of malpractice, if they don't give medicine, they risk making a patient angry.
I worked at a doctor's office way before I knew I had lyme and we had a patient who dropped a table on her foot for loratabs.....crazy to me.
I hate pain, I surely am not going to self inflict it!!
Shalome
Posts: 893 | From Florida | Registered: Dec 2008
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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As someone who used to be in the field of journalism, and as a patient who had dozens of very bad doctors who, without a doubt, derailed my career and my life from bad care (had I only KNOWN !!) . . .
(and as a person who can't really write correct sentence now so uses . . . and space breaks) . . .
I can understand some of this. The free speech aspect is huge. But you've got a few folks dishing out false information when a doctor tells them to clean up their act, etc. One thing that some people forget is that freedom of speech requires responsibility to the truth. And some are out to make trouble, flat out.
And the laser sword du jour is the web. And, with ignorant doctors who do cause harm, it seems that some sort of action is warranted and our legal system does not afford such action in many cases.
Still, even when a doctor has patients saying GOOD things about her or him, that can cause problems. We know this from lyme treatments. It is a very precarious situation even here when we try to share specifics and they can mark a doctor and take them out of the practice of medicine.
Even some of the best intentions can be misconstrued. And, whatever is posted on the web is there for what seems like will be all of time. So, as strong of an advocate of free speech that I am, the propensity for damage from some of the doctor-rate sites can spiral out of hand and some really are havens for libel.
As for lyme patients, perhaps the best way we can protect others is to share in quiet conversation at support group meeting who has and who has not been helpful with our treatment path.
We continue to educate lyme patients on the type of doctor they need to find here and that seems to work well (aside from there being far too few good LLMDs or LL NDs).
So, for most of us, we still have a forum and method to do our own research prior to a seeing a doctor and also to voice our guidance for others. For that, I am very thankful for Lyme Net.
Fortunately, most conditions also have similar support groups and it's fairly easy for patients to connect and find out more about the choices before them in a setting that has a bit more balance than an anonymous doctor-rate site.
Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
Everyone has made excellent points. I, too, have been torn about what to think.
I imagine a scenario where someone's health coverage is through an HMO and there are only certain docs that are covered under the plan..... patients either sign a Waiver or they don't get treatment..... forced compliance, basically.
Then there's the flip-side where fictitious experiences are posted by unscrupulous zealots, either to promote or discredit a certain LLMD, MD, ND, chiropractor, etc.....
I guess I have to go back and rely on certain fundamental principles..... that it's never a good idea to sanction EVERYONE when there are but a few causing problems. (The `shotgun discipline' approach.) In a free society, this is a fundamental premise.
Personally, I think this Medical Justice group promoting the Waiver idea would better serve patients and physicians everywhere by attempting to work with the consumer rating websites in an effort to establish some sort of `verification' system for posters. The verification information would still be anonymous to the public, but the website would only allow posts from legitimate `patients'. The method this group has chosen just isn't acceptable.
Good doctors won't be intimidated by online patient reviews. They are aware that some patients will love them, and some won't; each of us has specific expectations from our health care providers.
You know, I have to say.... it's almost funny that doctors are complaining about this. Orthodox medicine in this country has viciously sought to discredit and suppress nearly every other medical system including naturopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture, and osteopathy.
In fact, the chiropractic community actually had to file for an injunction against the AMA, which amounted to a `cease and desist' order to stop all the negative campaigning. And now medical docs are discovering what it's like to be on the receiving end of some harsh criticism.
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
i have used this myself, cant remember the name of the site though of the top. but have been very useful and so far pretty spot on !!
the rhum. is used for 9+ yrs had raving reviews, none negative and i was in full agreement. for yrs when no other doc could figure it out she was willing to step up to the plate and dive in!! i responded well to the auto immune therapies, decreased pain significantly. she was always willing to listen to my side, my feeling of what was or was not working and used labs only as reference not guideline-- i apppreciated that
now, knowing i have lyme the questions is posed was it the chicken or the egg??? but, cant fault her. no doc in over 12+ yrs has ever asked about, thought about, tested for lyme until God put me in the hands of current neuro new to tx from ny. would love to be able to give good review for him as well...
guess i lies in the responsibility of the user to use a good moral compass for this?? glad mine is still intact,lyme cant break that !!
-------------------- i am not a Dr. any info is only for education, suggestion or to think/research. please do not mis-intuprest as diagnostic or prescriptive, only trying to help. **
dx in 08:lyme, rmsf, bart, babs, and m.pneumonia. Posts: 422 | From TX | Registered: Oct 2008
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METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
I record reviews, postive or negative, and I'll keep doing it because I believe patients have a right to "all" the information. A physician won't have poor reviews if they don't provide poor care. That's been my experience recording patient reports.
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
I think you are both right about this.
The reviews I've read about doctors I'm familiar with were in keeping with my own opinion of the docs. So, the reviewers seemed legitimate to me, and the system seems to serve a good purpose, even if it isn't perfect.
I'm relieved that no one has posted about being asked to sign one of these Waivers. Maybe this campaign won't get very far after all.
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
you know i did go to one pain doctor and he had me sign this agreement that i would not be treated by anyone else, comment on my treatment,etc. etc.,
maybe this is typical of pain management doctors, i don't know.
but i do know that i went to one doctor and by heavens, i told everyone i knew to stay away from him.
if you're a good doctor, then you won't mind comments.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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