Doctors, patients deserve better rating sites
Counterpoint:
By Dr. Jeffrey Segal
We are not in principle against online ratings (“Docs don’t make case for online ratings,” editorial, March 17). We agree there needs to be a better way to rate doctors. But choosing a doctor on a rating site such as ratemds.com, where, depending upon specialty, up to one in three doctors have negative ratings, seems misleading. Are 33 percent of doctors bad?
Most patients really like their doctors. So, yes, there does need to be a solution.
We are working with third parties to launch sites where a patient is encouraged by the doctor to post a rating. The doctor can use the feedback constructively to improve his performance and practice.
Once there is a statistically significant number of ratings — not just an anecdote from a disgruntled patient or people posing as patients, such as ex-employees or even competitors — then these ratings can be made public. Then they will be meaningful and help us choose the best doctor. As the system stands now, a doctor is forbidden to respond to ratings because of federal and state privacy laws. He cannot even disclose he actually treated a patient.
Mutual privacy agreements are available so that a doctor can protect his reputation at least until we do have a better system. And we will have a better system.
In the meantime, patients retain full rights to access multiple existing venues to have their voices heard. The editorial stated, “The underlying problem is that online self-policing is, at best, uneven. False and misleading statements will continue appearing until sites provide adequate checks and balances.“
Agreed. We were tired of waiting, so we’re working with a strategic partnership of doctors and patients to get it done right.
I have been a patient and my then-5-year-old son has had brain surgery. Waiting to learn whether my son would live or die has allowed me to stand in the shoes of other patients.
We get it.
The writer lives in Greensboro.
Comments (1)
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The initial idea of rating doctors was a good one. But like anything that has to do with good intentions, people muck it up. Must be human nature to destroy rather than improve. Think about that for a while.
When I need a doctor in a specialty I have no knowledge of, I ask a nurse who does know the docs in that specialty. I have never used an online rating system and have always been pleased with my picks. A nurse will usually give you an overall rating based on what she sees, hears and intuitively knows, not a one patient rating. (Patients have a nasty habit of trying to settle the score with docs who may or may not have done anything wrong. The patient's perceptions are usually influenced by emotion rather than fact.)
Perhaps this is not very scientific but it works for me. And I'd bet Dr. Segal asked other docs about the brain surgeon before the surgery too.
At any rate, I wish Dr. Segal well in his endeavors to level the playing field. I also wish his child a long and happy future.
Posted on April 2, 2009 7:57 AM