Doctored Reviews
We’ve commented several times over the years about the odd phenomenon of doctors requiring patients to sign agreements to not leave online reviews of the doctor. And although Avvo has been providing an online forum for clients of lawyers for years, we’ve never seen something similar from legal professionals – likely because they realize that such agreements are both ill-advised and unenforceable.
A new public policy site, www.doctoredreviews.com, is seeking to provide doctors with the same sort of guidance should they consider using these contracts. A joint venture of the Santa Clara University High Tech Law Institute and the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Public Policy Clinic, DoctoredReviews provides a great summary overview of the problems inherent in using these agreements, as well as really good advice on how doctors (and any service providers) should respond to negative feedback online.
Among these recommendations are two key points that we talk about to professionals every day:
- You can easily respond to comments without violating privacy concerns. The best response, in fact, is to reiterate your practices, responsiveness and willingness to directly address concerns . . . rather than debating the specifics of the online complaint.
- Negative reviews of professionals are both rare AND potentially a good thing. They are indicative of a credible reputational ecosystem (100% positive feedback feels less-than-real to many consumers), and provide a very powerful platform for a professional to showcase their professionalism and responsiveness by commenting on the negative review.
We’re happy to welcome DoctoredReviews, and encourage any professional concerned about online reputation management to visit the site to learn more – particularly if you’re considering using contracts to try and limit your patient’s right to comment online.
April 15th, 2011 at 7:11 am
[...] have enjoyed a certain cachet in society and are not used to losing control over that. Avvo has a great post on this [...]
August 7th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
You are wrong that patients complain about Parking and Wait times. I have had patients demand narcotic drugs and “Report” me to these sites when I refuse based on my medical opinion and knowledge. A patient who pestered me for a whole visit – whom I treated with respect, explaining that I thought they were actually exhibiting addictive behavior “reported” me to Health Grads for being “rude”. I most definitely was NOT rude, just did not cave in to their demand for opioid medication. I told the patient I just wasn’t the doctor for them and even refunded their money for the visit! That’s the thanks I get for taking the time to see them examine them and give them my opinion – and not charge them.
I feel narcotic addiction has become a BIG problem in this country and now patients are “reporting” doctors, exaggerating about them to make these so called reports.
These reporting sites are far from scientific and actually give NO insight into who is a good doctor. Someone with thousands of satisfied patients with, maybe two dissatisfied patients – THOSE are the two who make “reports”. So now the doctor has 100% poor rating.
I’m sorry you do not understand these issues – but it’s Medical Justice for me.