Why Is There No Reliable Angie’s List for Doctors?
A robust ecosystem exists online for restaurant and hotel reviews that has changed those industries for the better.
So it is puzzling that there is no such authoritative collection of reviews for physicians.
RateMDs now has reviews of more than 1,370,000 doctors in the United States and Canada.
But getting in the faces of the previously untouchable professional class has inevitably led to legal threats. He says he gets about one each week over negative reviews and receives subpoenas every month or two for information that can help identify reviewers, who believe they are posting anonymously.
Full article by Ron Lieber worth reading.
This is puzzling.
I’m with Vicki. I’m not sure why a doctor has the right to subpoena an anonymous commenter’s identity. While I am aware of libel (and how damaging/frequent the practice is within the medical community) I had hoped that patients would be endowed with greater protection to speak freely.
If I’m not mistaken, Angie’s List does review doctors and dentists. I recall reading that many in the profession were not pleased with the notion that a website known for its reviews of plumbers and carpenters is now trying to review doctors. I’ve even heard it suggested that laymen aren’t knowledgeable enough about medicine to rate the quality of their doctor. I suppose you could make the same argument about your mechanic.
“…laymen aren’t knowledgeable enough about medicine to rate the quality of their doctor.”
What do you mean? Are you suggesting that patients who have to wait in the waiting room for 90 minutes before they get to see their doctor don’t know when their doctor has over-booked?
People should be allowed to rate and review their doctors anonymously.
No subpoenas, but the website owners should allow a rebuttal process.
Great discussion! It is important to remember that beyond the financial costs and increased iatrogenic risk, there is an emotional cost in carrying out unnecessary tests.
The medicine of the future must learn to combine “high tech – high touch.” Armando Ribeiro das Neves Neto. Sao Paulo / SP, Brazil.