Sanity is madness put to good use. – George Santayana
Doctor’s Orders: Shut UP!
5Mar2009 Author: Mother Jones, RN
The public is discovering a dirty little secret that nurses have known about for years. Some doctors are jackasses who can’t find their way out of a box. It’s true. There are some doctors out there I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy. Now, thanks to the Internet, patients can log onto websites and share their medical horror stories with the rest of the world. Right? Not so fast. According to this news story, some doctors are asking patients to agree to what amounts to a gag order that bars them from posting negative comments online.
Some doctors are whining about websites that let patients doctor-bash. They call it “tabloid journalism.” I beg to differ. It’s called free speech. People have always complained about their doctors. I bet that even Hippocrates had a few disgruntled patients. Personally, I would NEVER see a physician that insisted that I sign a waiver agreement that would keep me from sharing my opinions about them on the Internet. More proof that some doctors are total jerks.
8 Responses to “Doctor’s Orders: Shut UP!”
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Disclaimer
There has been a lot of chatter in the blogosphere about medical bloggers and HIPAA regulations so let me make this very clear: I write composite stories about many different people that I've cared for over the years.
regpsychnrse
March 5th, 2009 at 11:28 am
your right, but how would they know and how would they enforce it.
Pattie, RN
March 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I have a different take on this…I think too many patients rate doctors the way they would a hotel or cafe. The beauty of the waiting room, the friendliness of the staff, and the time spent in the exam room with your are uselss if this doc couldn’t diagnose a moose in the room if it bit him. Do we really think P-G scores reflect our nursing knowledge? Same here, methinks..
NPs Save Lives
March 6th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Check out this week’s edition of Change of Shift! You’re on it.
Strong One
March 7th, 2009 at 10:19 am
I would agree with you MJ AND with Pattie. Unfortunately all too often patients rate their doctor by means other than their skills and knowledge. But lets be honest, having the right bedside manner and yes having a respectable business and doing your best to minimize the waiting room time does make a difference.
I think the website is great. It’s free speech at its best. No one said free speech was all positive.
Besides, if the Doc is worth his/her wait in water.. that website won’t mean squat to them or their practice.
mitchsmom
March 8th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Oh yeah, I’m totally with ya. Truth is, if they get bad ‘ratings’ they probably deserve them.
Just about everything I’d heard as a local resident in my town, before I became a nurse, turned out to be 100% TRUE when I became a nurse and got to know them for myself.
Judy@StrawCottage
March 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Like most ratings systems, they work best when you throw out the high and the low and average the middle. Even if it’s not numerical it gives a better overall picture.
tammy swofford
March 8th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
This one is a mixed bag. But, on the other hand, if twenty people say the same thing about the physician in question, where there is smoke there just may be fire.
Probably the better way to manage these things is to check with the medical board of the state, others who have actually used the service of the physician in question.
But I also believe in free speech. And from that position, each must intelligently wade through the chatter on line.
Tammy
Kim
March 11th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I would go along with this under one condition, and it is the same objection I had when the topic of “nurses rating doctors” came up: Nothing gets posted anonymously. If you are going to evaluate, criticize, recommend…anything…you must sign your name and stand behind what you say.
If I see that “Doctor So-and-So” is a jerk, if it is from an anonymous source I am going to give it less credit than from someone who backs up what they way with their name.
After John’s experience with the endocrinologist-from-hell, I went to a website (can’t remember which one – it’s been 3 years) and told his story AND put my name on it. Then again, “blushing flower” is not exactly my M.O. : D