Monday, July 8, 2013

Breaking news-Turning the tables: Doctors to rate patients online



This just in.


BREAKING NEWS--Turning the tables: Doctors to rate patients online. LINK

27 comments:

Diane said...

Well, I better get all the care I need now, in August any Dr. looking at my profile won't touch me! I have never sued.. I am always on time(rarely seen on time), pay promptly.

Yet, I am a non compliant patient. If I disagree with a Dr, I let them know. If the treatment recommended is not working, I let them know, if I am allergic to cellulose from birch and corn(all med fillers) I let them know- I am a big royal pain in the tushie..surely I am first in line to be blacklisted...

:-) My Auntie who had her left leg cut off instead of the right leg she was supposed to have lopped off(of course she sued!) well, she will be blacklisted too.

Or that time my cousin went to a Dr. and the Dr. talked on her cellphone while in the room, kept calling my cousin betty instead of debbi, and left orders for the wrong medicine- well my cousin left the Dr a bad review- understandably..

Pretty certain all patients will be blacklisted. LOL But really, there are a million and 1 ways this could easily morph into a huge disaster.. I will be watching the launch of this closely- heck it might even make Obamacare look pretty good.

Skeptical Scalpel said...

Thanks for your comments. I heard that your aunt lost her case. Turns out she didn't have a leg to stand on.

SeaSpray said...

Wow. I think this is wrong. A patient should be able to feel comfortable (as possible) in a physician's presence but then to also feel AFRAID they could do something wrong?

I do think it is terrible that a doctor could be unfairly rated. I do go to those sites to look up a doc too ..always mindful that they could be bogus positive or negative comments - but I do try to get a feel for them. I think my eye doc had a great idea with posting copies of patients thank yous in his facebook.

And the idea of a doctor stooping as low as some of the horrible commenters is so disappointing and threatening.

You might think well if you're the perfect patient - you don't have to worry. well that can be subjective too ..if the chemistry isn't there ..although I don't stick with anyone I don't feel comfortable with if I don't have to.

I wrestle with weight, I can be chatty and I have had to pay some bills in payments when a lot. I'm pretty sure my important docs like me tho. A consulting surgeon I met, sent a letter back to my doc stating, Thank you for sending me your delightful patient." :) But what if I rubbed him the wrong way. What if either patient or doc is having a bad day that prompts the doc to rate a pt badly? I know docs cherry pic patients in certain instances ..but to think they all could be doing this? It seems like the antithesis to "Physician do no harm."

And in this situation ...who really has the power here? Word of mouth is one of the most important things for any business and does influence me to a point. But ..you would hope people also understand how uncontrolled the physician rating sites are. Still we can hear 99 positive comments, but remember the one negative. I also think a DOCTOR knocking a patient would have way more weight to it than a patient rating the doctor poorly. It would take a lot for me to publicly tear down a doc and would not. that being said ..I did write about a doc in my site some years ago ..I think as my worst patient experience - forget. Very interesting post - says me. The ER doc I worked with at the time and some nurses were appalled when I told them. I had some negative experiences in last couple of yrs I eventually will get around to writing about, but will never use their name. I am happy to say tho - I have amazing doctors - the ones that matter. And I have found MOST docs to be great to interact with. Something like this puts the fear of God into a perfectionist like me. It is also very disappointing when I tend to put docs on pedestals and think so highly of them.

SeaSpray said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

As a commercially viable site, this is going to be a big fail. You don't go pissing off your customers whether you are in the medical or plumbing business. If you really don't want deal with a particular patient, there are guidelines for getting rid of them.

Somewhat tangential to the topic, a local plastic surgeon sued a former patient for extremely negative Yelp and other reviews. The suit was tossed *and* she was fined by the judge.

Hollywood Anesthesia said...

I would say at least 40% of the population cannot recognize satire even when it slaps them in the face such as here.
That being said, if ER's were handing out Vicodin gift bags for better ratings, what kind of bribery do you think I have to look forward to?

Anonymous said...

Hey, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I will immediately start evaluating myself in the catagories mentioned to make sure I receive no less than 5 stars and am loved by all my doctors.

But I think this new site has already been banned. No mention on Google.

p.s. Diane's comment and SS's reply were a hoot.

Emily

artiger said...

Is it April 1 again?

Anonymous said...

Got me too.

SeaSpray said...

I didn't realize this was a joke.

I guess with all my concern that the ACA may be jeopardizing our quality insurance, medical care and choice of excellent doctors ...this was now just one more threat.

I removed the dentist comment because TMI. I will say tho, That he got away without fixing 3 broken teeth because they broke on the inside and he kept putting me off with lets wait and see. What so it breaks more? I should've confronted him when I realized what he was doing. He got paid more to do less. Just like with the ACA, but I digress. It is an awful feeling when you lose TRUST in a doctor. I think trust is sacred between a doctor and patient - or at least it should be.

SeaSpray said...

I don't show up in chat - but I said this:, "Hi - you really got me! And I DO love a good joke and am a major prankster at heart ..even elaborate ones. I've blogged on some. I DO appreciate satire. But with all the SERIOUS things going on with the ACA and world in general ..it was just one more thing to have to contend with"

Also ..having read medical blogs for almost 7 years, medical opinions, etc., I could see some docs wanting to. It didn't make sense, but then sometimes I feel what was right is considered wrong and wrong right. I was always so lighthearted, upbeat and always ready for a good laugh ..even at my expense. I probably need to take a breather from my news addiction. Even I can't believe how serious I am sounding.

I would never be mad at this ..sheepish yes and I'm chuckling. I even said, "Physician do no harm." Geee! :)

Do I have to do something specific to show up in chat?

Skeptical Scalpel said...

We had a nice live chat about this today. Thanks for participating.

Anonymous said...

I thought about this before posting. I can see where yes, good for the goose, good for the gander, can apply. At the same time, what would other patients think if a doc rated someone negatively? Would they want to go to that doc? I know I wouldn't. You also run the risk of blackballing happening from other docs. I've already seen that happen. Putting it in print? Don't docs have to worry about getting sued enough?

I've seen docs who had family members post good reviews on them. So I tend to investigate and ask questions before I go to a doc, and not just read online comments. There have only been 2 occasions where I saw docs get more than one or two bad reviews. I went to them and found out why and after 1 or 2 visits, I'm no longer with them.

I think we also have a bit of a problem in how we rate docs. I think there should be one set for the bedside manner, one for staff, and one for technical competence. Maybe even another for willingness to learn & grow as a doc, how they deal with the difficult cases or are they "cookie cutter" diagnosers.

We're all different people. I think some docs are better for some and not so much for others. They have unique personalities much as we do. Maybe there could be a way to say "we don't see eye to eye" without there being a lot of public mudslinging. Even with a doc I've disagreed with, and I've said why (and it was deserved), I still said I thought he was technically excellent.

When can we get patients to rate based on skills & manner not just they know the office staff, are related to the doc, or think he or she is cute?

Skeptical Scalpel said...

I don't think we will ever get patients to follow guidelines on how to rate doctors. The Internet is like the Wild West. Anything goes.

Chauncey said...

Cool!

Anonymous said...

My wife got blacklisted in her home town because she refused to sleep with the surgeon that operated on her leg more than 20 years ago, Her home town hospital denied her treatment of her leg and she had 18 stiches put in her leg by an urgent care clinic 18 hours after leaving emergency. Another incident is when she had her ovary removed they did not stitch her abdomen up instead they used tape and butterfly stitches. She has since moved out of the province since then and never goes to the hospital.

Skeptical Scalpel said...

That's outrageous. I really don't see how that could happen now. I doubt a surgeon could convince a hospital to blacklist a patient. Here in the US we have rules about that.

Anonymous said...

Actually Skep, it happens a LOT. I've seen patients tell me they were afraid to do anything (suffering in pain for years) because they were afraid of their doctors blacklisting them. Let me tell you I've seen it in the group of surgeons I used to go to. Threatened me with it outright. I was followed, gang stalked, etc. The whole idea is to quash the $$$ train. I've seen some blatant tactics used to keep people quiet and if you whistleblow, its even worse. That's why the younger generation, especially after googling medical info (the real McCoy not Oz), is not as inclined to put up with this mess. There are no real repercussions for doctors, the more $$$ you bring in, the more you are allowed to do as you please.

Skeptical Scalpel said...

You may be right. Certainly money talks.

counterpoint said...

Blacklisting does go on. Wrote a lengthy comment, and it erases it vs posted??

Skeptical Scalpel said...

You were not blacklisted. If you had read "Read This Before Commenting," you would have seen that Blogger, which hosts my blog, malfunctions without warning. Because of that, I say that you should copy your comment before clicking "Publish." I would be happy to hear what you have to say. However, I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, vulgar, or spam.

Anonymous said...

Counterpoint, I will have to say that I can vouch for Skep printing things that I see other doctor bloggers won't.

Skep, I'd also vouch that it depends on what you term offensive. I've seen you let stuff go that might be offensive to some because its the honest to gosh report from a person of what happened to them. You have the honesty to allow a different opinion, respectfully submitted. I can tell you that I have seen a doctor post a not very positive comment to a friend pretending to me. Its happened more than once. That may be offensive to some people, but you print that because well, its a fact.

So I'm sorry counterpoint but I have had the same problem with comments disappearing, and it had to do with settings in my browser. I think maybe once did everything screw up.

Skeptical Scalpel said...

Thank you for your support.

Unknown said...

I actually don't mind if a patient is non-compliant with their treatment, or even rude, or skips appointments (provided they at least call us in advance and let us know -- just common courtesy). I see those as possible symptoms of underlying social issues perhaps that should also be addressed as a part of their care. But I wish there was a way to review patients who are deliberate scam artists, like ones who ask me to fill out disability forms for a treatable rash, or ask me to bill cosmetic procedures to their insurance. Or engage in bullying behavior by threatening to write bad reviews if I don't waive their bills or provide free care. If they do that with any other non-medical business it would be considered fraud, extortion, and stealing. Some people unfortunately equate kindness with weakness, and I imagine a lot of doctors get targeted with these unethical schemes.

Skeptical Scalpel said...

I agree completely. I had not heard of patients bullying doctors and threatening to write bad reviews.

Anonymous said...

I'm quite sure I've been blacklisted within the system, which means the entire medical system where I reside, thanks to EHRs. I have not asked for pain medication, nor skipped appointments, nor been vulgar or violent. What I have done is complain about bad procedures, hoping that they will be improved for all.

I came home tonight to a message from a specialists office - I had seen him once - advising me, without seeing me again, that he has no idea why I am having the symptoms I am experiencing, so good luck.
Anonymous Jane
Now, I could understand if I had been given every test in the book, or even in a leaflet. But I haven't. That's fine with me; there is no need for needless testing. But how about scientific curiosity, or, should this be the case with me, or patients like me, having the directness to tell them they suffer from psychosomatic illness, if that is the case. Not shun the patient. Or, if a suffering hypochondriac, or, since I'm a woman, 'merely' "hysterical," then refer to a good psychologist. But no. This doesn't happen either. Or, if considered an exceptionally high-level pain in the ass, then say that too. One day, I trust a long long time from now, a physician will have to pronounce me, and everyone, "dead." If you're in a position to do that, then physicians are in the position to deal with you straight, and not increase suffering.

With hospital/medical monopolies, and EHRs, everyone in the system knows if a patient makes a telephone call to anyone in the system. I'm betting that they justify this invasion of confidentiality, and right to objective evaluation, on the basis of this kind of recording being in the best interests of health care, as this is one way to be on watch for people who doctor-hop, but, more reimbursably, so to speak, patients seeking opiates. Again, I'm not one of those patients.

So, here I am at 1:10 AM, planning to demand a letter of separation from the physician who refuses to evaluate me again based on new symptoms. I want it in writing.

I could file complaints with the Board of Licensure, but to what end? It takes something on the order of repeated patient deaths in order for the Board to take any action whatsoever. That leaves leaving a bad rating on a physician review page - and I don't like any of the physician review pages - solely as a means to stand up for myself, and not give up attempting to get the care I need.

They seem to ignore the fact that it is because I credit their knowledge that I am optimistic that answers will be found. But this shunning behavior, is well, the stuff of chicken-shit. They are not suffering. I am. There are increasing days when being passed off make me want to give up, entirely, and never seek medical care again, which would be great if not for the fear that enters into not being able to physically function normally. How do they sleep at night.

Anonymous said...

They sleep at night because they no longer care. Nor should any one else in exposing that.

Btw, it is admin who need to suffer for this most. Part of the problems laid at docs feet are due to admin. Cut the head off of the dragon first.

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