Has Your Doctor Been Trashed on the Internet?
SOURCE: MedScape
Trashed on the Internet: What Should You Do?
Business rating websites like Angie’s List flourished during the early commercializing of the Internet, but recently websites that rate doctor’s performance have sprung up.
John Swapceinski, co-founder of RateMDs, a Sunnyvale, California-based physician rating site, says that 70% of posters express satisfaction with their physicians. But as Kenneth Harkavy, a pediatrician in Reston, Virginia, points out, “Satisfied customers rarely make the effort to spread good news, while dissatisfied customers will share with as many people as they can. As a result, a compilation of submitted reviews will tend to be biased, usually to the negative.”
Oh my! Only 70% of posters liked their doctor?
This article makes some sound recommendations for researching what may have been said about you and your practice. I hope you will find this material of value. You will want to review this article: “Trashed on the Internet: What Should You Do?”.
I might be biased but I’m sure more than 70% of people like their chiropractor!!
Scott
Well, it’s hard to tell that since you can’t always find out why some people discontinue care. However, I’ll bet (like you) that there are probably a lot less complaints filed against DCs than MDs on those (or any) websites.
I wouldn’t extrapolate “a lot less complaints” to be anything meaningful. We all know, every practice(DC, MD, DDS, DO,….) has it’s “complainers”….just because they complain, does not make their complaints valid. I would surmize that a provider with poor “bedside manner” would generate more complaints. But it would be folly to interpret that as synonymous with poor quality care.
nene,
I actually agree.
It only takes one person, whether you are a D.C., M.D., P.T. school teacher…etc..etc…to sully someones reputation. The reasons can be endless.
It is difficult to legitimize the complaints on the internet, and any website that allows for anonymity and secrecy of the the reviewer could allow for nefarious commentary.
A more precise way to find an objective review would to either check with the county or state to see if any action has been taken against their license.
Another one would be to use a more reputable source, as mentioned Angie’s list, where members pay to belong. Angieslist.com also verifies the information(supposedly) to make sure the content and experience is accurate.
I actually want a health care professional to have excellent bedside manner that is equal to their skill and quality of care. It’s a lot to ask, but I think that’s what people need and deserve.
Referrals from friends can also be a great source.
Your reputation is one of the most precious things that needs to be protected. That’s why we all must strive to always deliver the best possible service and treat people right.
That being said, there are remedies which exist to help when you’ve been smeared online. I’m not sure what exactly this entails, but in my SEO research, I found a couple of articles along the way which addresses this.
Hey guys. I have the opinion that one one-star review isn’t going to hurt your reputation as long as the review is vague. Or if the review is only slamming one tiny part of the office visit experience: “I stubbed my toe on the curb!” “The carpet is old!”
A good strategy is to ask some of your best patients to do reviews for you. Get even ten good reviews on your Google Maps listing, and if you get the oddball one-star review, people will ignore it. Or, if you get a three or four star review, it will give you more credibility because a person was thoughtful enough to write a more balanced point of view. It takes away from the hyperbole that you get when someone has unlimited 5-star reviews.
Thanks guys for the information, that was very intersting Todd!
I have a generally positive attitude towards chiropracty and other complementary treatments where scientific evidence demonstrates efficacy. I’m sure chiropractice has been subject to concerted attack by mainstream medicine, both overtly and covertly.
It’s easy to leave a negative comment on such as Rate Your MD. But unless there’s a very well concerted campaign against a practitioner then there’s very little damage done.
As a professional in another field of expertise, what worries me is that professionals are still not taking the genuine negative reports seriously. There is much debate over the frivolous or spiteful ratings but practitioners and deaf and dumb over the reports of real malpractice. There are too many horror stories out there of medics whose incompetence is only uncovered when scores or even hundreds of their patients are dead or badly injured. The system is indeed weighted against discovery and redress for patients.
What are we doing about these reports? For many patients, writing a report on such as Rate Your MD is the only way to alert authorities and other patients.
Sam, in some cases, at least with chiropractic, the only review a doc will have on a website is one that is negative. I guess it’s human nature to muster up the energy to write a review if you have a sort of vindictive mood from a bad experience. When you visit a local shop or service provider, you expect a good experience by default, so the impression that you get from a good experience doesn’t really motivate you to tell others. It just leaves you content, but not singing praises from the roof tops.
Bad reviews are devastating. If you do get a bad review, take time to determine if the review is really unjust or if you’re just taking offense at being criticized. My suggestion is to write a public response and acknowledge any points that are correct and contradict those points you feel are untrue. The truth hurts, but you can use a bad review as a learning experience if you use what the reviewer has said to improve your care.