Want treatment? Agree not to bitch online....

Remember back in December when I mentioned that you can now rate your doctor? Well, now some doctors in the US are fighting back. They're asking patients to agree to a waiver (a gag order) where they agree not to post negative comments online.

The creator of Medical Justice, Dr. Jeffrey Segal says, "Patients are hungry for good information" about doctors, but Internet reviews provide just the opposite. Some sites are little more than tabloid journalism without much interest in constructively improving practises, and their comments can unfairly ruin a doctor's reputation."

His company provides doctors with a standardized waiver agreement. Patients who sign agree not to post online comments about the doctor, his expertise and/or treatment. Doctors are notified when a negative rating appears on a Web site, and, if the author's name is known, physicians can use the signed waivers to get the sites to remove offending opinion.

John Swapceinski, co-founder of RateMDs.com, said six doctors have asked him to remove negative online comments based on patients' signed waivers. He refused. "They're basically forcing the patients to choose between health care and their First Amendment rights, and I really find that repulsive." In fact, he's planning to post a "Wall of Shame" listing names of doctors who use patient waivers.

Now some would argue that posting doctor reviews online is not an appropriate way to warn against bad doctors. But in our jurisdiction, where finding a family doctor is extremely difficult; changing doctors once you have a doctor is damned near impossible, what other choices do we have?