Online Doctor Review Sites: Some Physicians Are Fighting Back
It wasn't long ago that an average individual would find it rather difficult to find meaningful help in finding good health care.
With the advent of online doctor review sites, this has changed.
Now, with just a few clicks of a mouse, you can find out what people are saying about the physicians in your hometown.
Those that have racked up a number of bad ratings are probably the ones you would want to avoid.
However, some physicians have begun to fight back.
They are introducing gag orders they have their patients sign before they will agree to treat them.
While effective on the surface, many critics say the Streisand Effect could mean it is bad business.
The Streisand Effect is named after Barbra Streisand, who once tried to stifle photographs of her home from appearing on the Internet.
Predictably, this attempt led to more publicity and the net result was not only the photographs being available, but becoming more widespread than they would have ever been had she only chosen to ignore it.
The same principal will likely hold true here.
The more physicians try to stifle doctor review sites, the more people will demand to use and contribute to them.
It has been proven again and again that a free internet responds badly to attempts at censorship.
Those who try to stuff the genie back in the bottle usually do so at their own peril.
As an example of this, many of the most popular doctor review sites have open forums where those physicians who have implemented gag order policies are named and shamed.
It's true that they may have very few reviews in the main section, but they will certainly have plenty said about them in an auxiliary of the site, and that can be worse.
What many physicians fail to realize is that these sites aren't simply about going online and ranting about terrible health care.
Many of the ratings are positive.
Granted, there are some write-ups that take libel to a whole new extreme, but these are by far the minority.
Of course, it is a futile effort in any case.
Most lawyers who have taken the time to ponder the case of the medical gag order have concluded that it stands little chance of standing up in a court of law.
None of them have been put to that test yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Until then, those physicians who implement them will continue to be named and shamed, while standing in the way of free speech and progress.
With the advent of online doctor review sites, this has changed.
Now, with just a few clicks of a mouse, you can find out what people are saying about the physicians in your hometown.
Those that have racked up a number of bad ratings are probably the ones you would want to avoid.
However, some physicians have begun to fight back.
They are introducing gag orders they have their patients sign before they will agree to treat them.
While effective on the surface, many critics say the Streisand Effect could mean it is bad business.
The Streisand Effect is named after Barbra Streisand, who once tried to stifle photographs of her home from appearing on the Internet.
Predictably, this attempt led to more publicity and the net result was not only the photographs being available, but becoming more widespread than they would have ever been had she only chosen to ignore it.
The same principal will likely hold true here.
The more physicians try to stifle doctor review sites, the more people will demand to use and contribute to them.
It has been proven again and again that a free internet responds badly to attempts at censorship.
Those who try to stuff the genie back in the bottle usually do so at their own peril.
As an example of this, many of the most popular doctor review sites have open forums where those physicians who have implemented gag order policies are named and shamed.
It's true that they may have very few reviews in the main section, but they will certainly have plenty said about them in an auxiliary of the site, and that can be worse.
What many physicians fail to realize is that these sites aren't simply about going online and ranting about terrible health care.
Many of the ratings are positive.
Granted, there are some write-ups that take libel to a whole new extreme, but these are by far the minority.
Of course, it is a futile effort in any case.
Most lawyers who have taken the time to ponder the case of the medical gag order have concluded that it stands little chance of standing up in a court of law.
None of them have been put to that test yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Until then, those physicians who implement them will continue to be named and shamed, while standing in the way of free speech and progress.
