As a long-time proponent of transparency in health care, this seems to me to be a positive development.

As a consumer, I've often found it difficult (at best) to get unambiguous information about one provider from another. This seems to me to be a variation  on the Amazon.com review process. That is, honest, forthright information from actual consumers, as opposed to dry, uninformative bullet-points from the providers themselves.

Of course, consumers will have to be comfortable assessing which reviews are accurate, as opposed to those which come from folks with unrealistic expectations, or who didn't listen carefully to the providers advice/explanation.

Perhaps there could be another layer inserted here: some kind of patient moderator who could ascertain which was which.

Something to consider.

I came upon your column in the course of seeking information on a doctor for my wife.  Upon reading your column it occurs to me that I would much rather read an evaluation created by knowledgable medical professionals than one created by patients.  However, I don't believe such an evaluation exists or that it would be available to the public if it did.  So I believe you are correct in stating that consumer ratings will become common practice simply because of the demand and the ease of providing them on the internet.

Yes, there are huge problems with current day rating systems. While Naomi's suggestions are useful and valuable, the only valid and reliable way to accomplish this kind of transparency in the long run is through scientifically sound outcomes research based on comprehensive data from providers and patients collected in everyday clinical practice for entire episodes of care. These data should be used to give comparative performance feedback to providers in a way that supports continuous quality improvement (CQI), as well as used by researchers to establish, evaluate, and evolve evidence-based guidelines. Unfortunately, our country continues to be focused on short-sighted quick-fixes for a complex problem requiring vision, wisdom, and major systemic transformation.

Steve Beller, PhD
http://wellness.wikispaces.com

When I take one of my cars into a dealership for service, I am usually sent a "Customer Satisfaction Survey" to fill out and send back.  In this way, the auto manufacturers can make sure their dealerships are fulfilling their obligations to their customers and representing the manufacturers in a good light.

Too bad there is not something similar for physicians.  If hospitals, at least, would do something like this, I believe it would greatly improve the quality of healthcare, or at least healthcare provider/patient relationships.  The hospital administrators could look over patient survey forms and discuss concerns with the health care professionals involved.  The healthcare professionals would then have a chance to defend themselves against patients who merely have an axe to grind.  Furthermore, the administrators who collect and review the patient surveys could see if there is a common theme among several reviews and, in that way, determine if there really is a problem with either the facility or a particular healthcare professional.

Obviously, this doesn't give consumers a place to look up reviews, unless the hospitals choose to make the information public (which is highly unlikely), but it would make hospitals more accountable to those consumers.  The other problem is that it would not address those healthcare providers who are in private practice.  Of course, they could do the same.  And it would certainly benefit the healthcare providers to be able to publish glowing patient survey reports!

I am a consumer of health care, not a professional in the field. Basically it seems that consumers go to these websites and post their review to say only glowing, positive things or to complain bitterly about a physician. Neither is particularly helpful.

I'm in agreement that major changes need to take place before physicians can be assessed in any meaningful way. In our current environment, it seems that it will only hurt a physician  to have honest, open communication with a patient, the threat of lawsuits is so overwhelming.

As I used to work in the insurance industry, I also feel qualified to say that managed care is not helping the situation at all.

Jocye,

After reading your comment, I decided to try mdnationwide.org.

Unfortunately, I was not impressed with their service. They did not provide any more information about the surgeon who was going to operate on my ankle. I found the same information (more detailed/ accurate) on his brief profile on the website for an organization that he is part of.

I tried calling mdnationwide.org several times to speak to them, and all I got was their answering machine. I've left messages, and they never got back to me.

I finally called American Express and they were gracious enough to credit me back the charge. Amex said that they were not going to dispute the charge with mdnationwide since it's not a significant amount of money.

I've written about all this in more detail on: www.valuemavens.com

If someone else had a different experience with mdnationwide.org or found a n excellent doctor review site, please let me know.

www.valuemavens.com

In my country you pay lots of money and you get in change the "pleasure" of waiting couple hours in front of the door and after this to be treated in the most horrible mode by the doctor you paid. It's not fare !