09 Mar Rating doctors online: It's about time
Rich Barton, the guy who started Expedia and Zillow, a couple years ago told me that “everything that can be rated, will be rated.”
But it seems that doctors are determined to fight the trend — even though patients increasingly want that kind of information about their health care providers.
The latest development: A Web-based company called Medical Justice, started by a neurosurgeon, Jeffrey Segal, claims it “can put a stop to defamation of doctors on the Internet.” The company basically takes the tack that doctors have nothing to gain from getting rated on-line by patients, so it offers a contract — now apparently used by about 2,000 doctors — that doctors can ask patients to sign before getting treated. The contract says the patient can’t post comments or ratings on public Web sites.
Which is crazy. A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 80 percent of adults who go online look for health information — and about 30 percent look for information about a specific doctor or hospital.
Sites like RateMDs.com are growing in popularity, along with the overall trend that has people turning to TripAdvisor, Yelp, RateMyProfessors.com, and other sites for ratings.
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