Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
they have "Rate My Teachers" where people can allow patients to express
their personal experiences and thoughts about doctors with anonymity,
without fear of retaliation. Note: other than Health Grades.
These sites are a dime a dozen. A quick Google search will make this point clear. Virtually all of them are like HealthGrades, in that they rarely contain information that is provided by the physicians themselves. Most of them contain information that is data mined from state licensure boards and other internet sources. The data are often inaccurate or out of date, as a result.
Also keep in mind that anyone can post a good or bad comment about a physician, even if they have never seen that physician. There is no way to tell if a review is from an "actual patient." I therefore never use these sites to choose a physician. I rely on my PCP, friends, and family who have had actual experience with a physician.
In some states, you can get pretty reliable information about a physician from the State agency that is responsible for issuing their medical license. In GA, the State Board of Medical Examiners' site posts demographic data, specialty data, education data, and other information that is verified, or provided directly by the physician. GA's site also lists any disciplinary action that has been taken against a physician for ethical violations, or similar issues. These data are far more reliable that anything you will find on HealthGrades, or a similar site. These sites do not usually allow people to comment about physicians. There is a good reason for this.
"Good for the goose is good for the gander." If they have a website that rates elementary, secondary and
higher education teachers why couldn't there be one for the medical profession? This post was not intended
to name names but for people to discuss their stories and experiences about their doctors.
Other posts on the Health thread are asking questions about certain & specific medical problems.
This post is designed to allow people to discuss any problems they might be going through (or went through)
with the doctors who did or did not help them.
It would be just like the rating sites for apt complexes, where all the comments are from deadbeat tenants who got kicked out. Except in this case it would be from people who didn't appreciate their dr's telling them they were obese and needed to stop overeating and smoking.
People who get good/great service rarely post about it or log it on a review site.
It would be just like the rating sites for apt complexes, where all the comments are from deadbeat tenants who got kicked out. Except in this case it would be from people who didn't appreciate their dr's telling them they were obese and needed to stop overeating and smoking.
People who get good/great service rarely post about it or log it on a review site.
good point. Here is the typical senerio:
Doctor Smith: Ms. Jones, your diabetes has gotten much worse. You weighed 250 poinds at your last visit. Today you weigh 275. The treatment I am prescribing will not work well, unless you loose some weight, as we have discussed before. I am worried that your condition will get much worse if we cannot solve this problem.
Ms. Jones' web review: Dr. Smith has no bedside manner. I asked him for help with my diabetes. He just told me I am fat, and that there is nothing he can do for me, and that I am going to die. Don't go to "Doctor" Smith unless you like to be ridiculed. I hope the State revolves his license. He should be allowed to practice medicine with this kind of attitude.
Furthermore, it's always impossible that a competitor could go online and make completely false statements about the MD, just to draw attention away from that practice. By that same token, there is nothing that prevents the physician (or one of his/her staff and friends) from positing positive reviews from fictitious patients.
There are two sides to every story, and these sites seldom tell the physician's side.
Ok, here's a story. I go to Dr.X for 2 years for routine things. During each visit I tell him that I feel very weak
he asks a few questions and does routine blood work. After several visits (almost 2 years later) he does
some additional blood work. I ask if he will talk to me about the results and he said he would.
A few days later I get a call from the nurse and she tells me everything is fine but my calcium is a
little high. Silly me, I thought that was good....wrong that was very bad.
I go to another doctor in a different city and he immediately takes another blood test which showed
I virtually had little vitamin D in my body.
Luckily the second doctor knew right away what to look for while Dr. X let me suffer for 2 years.
The remedy was to have a simple surgery and within 2 months I felt better.
How are you going to measure the doctors? Strictly on time spent in the waiting room? Friendliness of the staff?
Everything you find online won't be of use to increase any understanding of health outcomes from doctors. You need statistics from a long-term study, details about what is prescribed, does the doctor try natural remedies or only just prescribe medication?
Things like this you cannot know without having an in-depth understanding of every clinic. This is something wrong with healthcare. I gurantee the majority of people on here go to a doctor that is within a comfortable commute distance rather than going an hour away to see the "best" doctor around.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
