The AMA News published a terrific article entitled, “Negative online reviews leave doctors with little recourse.” The article describes inappropriate practices by one doctor rating site and the privacy limitations that prevent doctors from responding to negative reviews. It certainly isn’t a level playing field.
I’m not sure the playing field needs to be completely level, but fairness ought to be expected. Giving patients the right to freely publish their opinions isn’t a problem. As readers of this blog know, our DrScore research finds that patients typically love their physicians. On the DrScore.com rating site, the average score of a doctor with 20 or more ratings is 9.3 out of 10. Online physician rating Web sites that purposely advertise for or prominently display only negative ratings aren’t being fair and aren’t giving the public what they deserve: honest, representative feedback on doctors.
Transparency is good for patients and physicians.