RateMDs.com has become the premier site for physician ratings. They are the leaders in the new trend of evaluating physician care like you would a lamp or toaster. The website comes complete with bright colors and a "smiley to frowning face" scale. At RateMDs.com, anyone can log on and anonymously say almost anything they like about any physician in America.
What are they saying? It's a mixed bag. While a good number of people have nice things to say about their doctor, there are many negative comments. California and Florida orthopedic, plastic, and neurosurgeons who log on will find that, on average, over 40% of the comments about them are negative! The highest are California plastic surgeons at 47%. Of course, this statistic changes daily. But, even the most dismal set of malpractice statistics wouldn't indicate physician negligence at that level, so clearly patients with an axe to grind are the most likely to post.
Unchecked by any kind of review, some of the negative rhetoric on the site is truly unbelievable.
"THIS WAS THE ABSOLUTE WORST EXPERIENCE WITH A SO CALLED 'PROFESSIONAL.' THIS WOMAN HAS NO BUSINESS BEING IN THE MEDICAL FIELD..."
"DR XXXX IS AN ABSOLUTE MORON!..."
"Oh my God! This guy is an awful MD. He is big on drugs, drugs and more drugs. The office is a zoo, no one knows you or cares to since there are so many other patients to see. I prefer a smaller, saner office for my kids. I left and found another local MD who is not a 'knucklehead.'"
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Angry patients blast their physicians with terms like "pompous boob." It gets worse. In some cases, it may not even be patients making postings at all. As an anonymous website, it is entirely possible for competing physicians, or anyone else who isn't a patient to make postings under false pretenses. This was demonstrated by a Canadian family physician who created multiple identities and put up false reviews on the site in order to expose how easy this kind of fraud is (true to form, the website's creator responded by publicly exposing the physician in question to hurt his practice.)
So, what can be done about this? Unfortunately, physicians have been left with few options because the legal precedent (mostly from the rulings on Napster, and other music file sharing websites) is stacked in the website's favor.
From RateMds.com FAQ: "...The fact of the matter is that this site is only going to get more popular as time goes by, so the best way of dealing with it is to use it rather than try to fight it."
Jeffrey Segal, MD, a board certified neurosurgeon and Founder/CEO of Medical Justice Services, disagrees. According to Segal, "Internet libel is the latest threat facing physicians in an already hostile climate. I developed Medical Justice, based on a proactive approach, to tackle the problem of frivolous malpractice lawsuits. Since then we've developed a contract-based solution addressing this new threat and are already seeing results. While it is difficult to file suit against the website itself, you can put safeguards into place to prevent defamation on the internet. In other words, there are clear remedies available to doctors, whether or not the postings are anonymous "
Medical Justice™ is a program designed by a board certified neurosurgeon to protect physicians from frivolous suits - before they occur.
Medical Justice™ also addresses the problems of internet libel, requests for refunds, and other emerging threats to physicians.
To request more information on what physicians can do and are doing Click Here.
