This is pretty interesting. There is an anonymous website, called RateMDs.com, which has drawn the ire of doctors because it allows patients to comment on doctors and how they interact with patients. It was a site I was going to launch, but never got around to it. I have another site similar to it, but not based on the doctors themselves… only their treatment.
Yahoo posted an AP article written by Lindsey Tanner, apparently the AP Medical Writer. The article, titled “Docs seek gag orders to stop patients’ reviews” and it makes me a bit ill to think that a court order can attempt to abolish freedom of speech. I reserve the right to comment on my treatment, and no doctor has the right to prevent me from venting my issues. I certainly can’t do it with the doctor, I know I’ve never felt that I had time to discuss issues of mistreatment. When I have pursued an issue, I was made to feel like I was just trying to get pain killers, the ER administration apologized for the treatment later. But I doubt there are many people who live in a small town who can extract a few minutes from a doctor, or hospital admin.
A doctor, who gets named on the site, should take it in stride along with those teachers who are reviewed on ratemyprofessor.com. A company like Medical Justice attempts to limit the harm by patient commentary and instructs doctors to have patients sign an agreement stipulating that they will not post negative comments online and if the patient does not sign it, they should be compelled to find another doctor.
The issue is not the patient alone. Disabling the ability of a patient to discuss openly the issue between them and the doctor so as to affirm their point of view or not, is a strategy that should not be condoned. If the patient felt at ease to make a comment, they would. But I’ve met a few doctors who did not present themselves in the best light, or have time to talk. I’ve had doctors with no follow up, and then others with amazing bedside manner.
I’ve ended up in the ER twice here in Frederick within 3 days for the same problem, on the first visit, a nurse witnessed me in pretty amazing amounts of pain and ended up getting moved up the list and get a room. Within a few hours, I was feeling better, was diagnosed, treated enough to go home, and was treated 4 days later. One problem, on day 3, I was back in the ER because of the pain again. This time, I watched a shift change before being seen and only after I complained to administration that I also watched 4 families leave the ER to parts unknown. That second time, people saw me in the same situation, but didn’t move a muscle. Even told me to move out of the way even though I was in enough pain to lay on the floor.
You can bet that anyone would be much more vocal about their negative treatment than their positive treatment. And like any competitive market, which the medical field is more protective than competitive, it is the social networking and communicating of positives and negatives that encourage results and reform.
RateMDs.com and every other rating and review social network should be encouraged to turn down those who might stifle commentary. It is not a criminal act to speak out. And never will be. And frankly, when Dr. Lauren Streicher suggests “Are there bad doctors out there? Absolutely, but this is not a good way to figure it out,” she is correct, but only on the first part. This is a perfect way to find out, and the more people that find out this site exists, the more likely it will police itself with good and bad commentary. As most social networks do, the community will decide, not those who have the most to lose by the disclosure of information.
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