Today we published an article entitled, Hey, it’s 2007! Let’s Rate Doctors!. Why? Because there is some concern that companies which are jumping on the doctor ratings bandwagon (like Revolution Health, perhaps?) don’t really understand the complexities involved in rating someone on their career and livelihood. It’s not like rating an Internet video, so the rating form better be complex, in-depth, and detailed. And the search for the doctor should take into account my specific and unique needs as a patient, not your abilities to provide that information in 3 or 4 standard views.
Free advice for anyone who wants to listen. But if you approach this arena as rating Internet videos, don’t be surprised that it doesn’t catch on.
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6 Comments to
“Hey, It’s 2007! Let’s Rate Doctors!”
rate doctors?!! how mean!!! unless you are a doctor yourself, how would you know how to do this? my god I can’t believe how people are acting nowadays. Some people are just downright MEAN!!!
Yeah, I don’t think it’s about being mean or not mean (what is this, high school??). It’s about accuracy of information gathering and reporting.
It is a good opportunity for doctors to get really honest with themselves about their belief in various statistical methodologies used for evaluating drugs, therapies, patient progress, etc.
The question to ask is always, “Do the numbers really tell the whole story?”
And then, “If not, why do we worship the numbers?”
Greg, as usual, you are right on the money.
The answer is, We worship the numbers because they scream — look at me, I am relevant, reliable information *because* I’m a number.
The truth is, the number is often meaningless. Or is has a specific meaning, but only within a certain context or with certain limitations, but none of which are mentioned with the number.
I think it’s an interesting concept though it does have its inherent faults. The real issue is that people do not understand most doc information/language that’s out there and a simple system would make sense…
Yes, I think it’s an interesting concept as well and, if done right, I think could bring a lot of value to the marketplace of how a person chooses a new doctor in their life.
I think you can write the questions simply enough, it’s just that you need to ask enough questions to make the system fair and accurate. Some of the ratings systems I’ve seen simply don’t do the patient-doctor relationship any sort of justice today.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 12 Feb 2007
