Why Aren’t We Rating Our Doctors?

Consumers of today have become accustomed to having a forum where they can provide feedback to the businesses they visit (ex: Yelp, tripadvisor, etc.).  Whether visiting a new restaurant or buying a new electronic device, it is common to go online after the fact and rate the product.  In doing so, you provide information to many potential customers who depend on your review to make their future purchase decisions.  With the increased popularity of online ratings sites and social media discussion boards, consumers have more information at their fingertips than ever before to help make everyday purchase decisions.  The higher the price or importance of the item, the more research and care is put in.  The problem is, information on the most important service we consume does not seem to be out there.

Although not traditionally viewed as a business, medical and health establishments are service providers that we pay to assist in our health and well-being.  Ranking high in importance, when deciding which doctor to visit or which specialist to see, it would help to have a wealth of information at your fingertips to help you decide on which is best for you.  Unfortunately though, this is rarely the case.  Most of the time, a doctor will recommend a specialist to you, and all you can do is trust that they are referring you to the doctor with the best quality of care possible.  Even if it is a local doctor that friends and family may have visited, most people still feel uncomfortable seeking opinions of others, as most medical issues are private, and the fact that people may not want to share their personal health problems with you.

This just does not seem right.  We have tons of information out there to make measly everyday purchase decisions, like which coffee to buy based on whose coffee was voted best by most Americans in a blind taste test, yet we can’t find information on a doctor who is about to perform our knee surgery.  This issue has been brought to my attention multiple times, but most recently, through a friend of mine who was recently in a car accident.

Last weekend, while parked in an empty lot and reaching her hand to open the passenger side door of her boyfriend’s car, a student driver rammed into the side of the car, hitting her in the legs and throwing her to the ground.  She was taken by ambulance to the hospital in extreme pain and with limited sensation below the waist.  After having multiple x-rays done, the doctor told her that none of her bones actually broke during impact but that that she would continue to have a great deal of swelling and bruising over the next week.  After the doctor left the room, the nurse came in with a set of crutches and said “Okay, you’re all set.  You’ll just have to see an orthropedic surgeon this week.”  My friend, in pain and confused asked, “To use crutches, you have to have one leg that is in working condition, right?”  The nurse answered,  “Yes.”  “Well, both my legs were just hit by a car and I still cannot feel them, nevermind move them on my own, let alone walk,” my friend replied.  “Well, unless you can get out of here on crutches, we’ll have to admit you and keep you here,” the doctor chimed in.  He explained to her that her choice was cut and dry- either she somehow finds the inner strength to wobble her way out of the hospital or she had to stay with them overnight.  Her boyfriend picked her up, placed her in her mother’s car and took her home, never to return to that hospital again.

This was only the beginning of the lack of sympathy and service she was given over the last week and only one example of many I know of where less than quality medical care has been provided to patients.  Unlike with service providers in other industries though, situations like these usually go unreported.  Everyone moves on and the doctors get paid regardless of the quality of service.  Even though someone may wish to let others know about their experience in order to prevent anything similar from happening again, most people just feel like it there is no easy way to do so.

Unlike every other type of feedback and rating you post online, posting information about doctors and medical professionals is difficult and in some cases, impossible.  The problem is that there is no central site where everyone goes to provide feedback on doctors, specifically.  Simply put- the rating system for medical professionals is fragmented.  If you try and search for a site to rate your doctor, what you’ll find are 10-20 sites claiming that they are the go-to site for information and ratings on doctors in your area.  After personally surfing through a bunch of these sites, I could not find one with evidence of a substantial following.  I decided to go ahead and try posting some ratings about my last doctors’ visits to see what I found.  Here are some key takeaways:

1)   Firstly, your doctor may not even be listed to choose from to provide a rating

2)   If you do find the doctor you would like to rate, on average, they only had 2-3 reviews posted, each with limited and very general information

3)   When completing a review, the questions they ask you to rate the doctor on may not cover the topics you would like to address (ex: ask about wait time, politeness of staff versus knowledgeable about condition, quality of care)

4)   Multiple disclaimers: RateMDs.com states that when posting a review, your IP address is being tracked and that “libelous or very short comments may be deleted.”  Also, before you click, submit, it states, “You are legally responsible for what you write here.”  With all of these warnings, who is really going to be honest about the care they received?

5)   Lastly, if your post is actually accepted and posted, you’re still not left feeling confident that anyone would even visit this site to read your story.  (I, personally, do not know anyone who has said they look at these ratings)

For any site focusing on customer reviews, the more people posting and the more total posts, the higher the quality of the ratings become.  Encouraging people to come back and continue posting is a must to make a ratings website a success.  This is the exact opposite of what I experienced.  After writing my customer feedback and submitting it, the site did not even post it.  Instead, I was told that my rating was under review.  Who knows if it will ever even get approved or posted.  Also, the site should be open for medical professionals to reach out to unhappy patients, just as other businesses reach out to their disgruntled customers.  (Considering the nature of the industry, reaching out to customers in this case would involve more of an offline, individual approach.)  Regardless, with the technology out there and the number of people with information to share, it just amazes me that we have not seen a better, more efficient platform come to the forefront.  Social media has helped the communication and feedback loops of so many other organizations.  Why not the one that actually affects our physical well-being?

All in all, I am not saying that we should necessarily be tweeting back and forth with our physicians, as this raises obvious privacy concerns.  However, there should be a forum to provide personalized feedback to health professionals and public information as to how their treatment is rated, just as we do with any other business or organization as customers.  If you have had any luck posting good or bad reviews on one of these sites about your doctor, please do share.