Doctor Ratings: A Revolution in Information
Doctor ratings sites are popping up online, giving the power back to the consumer. These sites allow the average patient to go to the website and rate their experiences with their physician, give a review, and search out what other people have to say!
Just a few years ago,
if you wanted to find a good physician in your area, you had but a few options available. You could ask other people in your city who they recommended (a tedious and sometimes fruitless activity) or you could simply pick someone at random from the phone book or your insurance companies network of providers. Today, there is a better way and many potential patients are taking advantage of it. Doctor ratings sites are popping up online, giving the power back to the consumer. These sites allow the average patient to go to the website and rate their experiences with their physician, give a review, and search out what other people have to say.
These sites can be a big help if you are looking for a physician in your area. Doctor ratings can tell you what people in your area have to say about the healthcare providers in your city, giving you a much better idea when it comes to your search. Of course, this being the internet, you shouldn’t put too much stock into any one opinion. Certainly avoid choosing based on a star system alone. Read the reviews on the site and make up your own mind. See if the issues people are bringing up are ones that are important to you. If several bad reviews place a big emphasis on the decor of the office, you may be able to disregard them, and so on.
If you look at a doctor ratings site and the physicians in your area only have one or two reviews posted, don’t give them much weight. You never know when someone may just be steaming from having to wait too long for their appointment and decides to go online to post a negative review for this reason. It doesn’t give you any helpful information and it could easily turn you away from helpful, quality care. Not until you see at least ten or more opinions should you begin giving them any thought. Even then, read each one carefully to make sure there isn’t any undue anger or praise.
The internet has given us a wealth of information on just about every topic there is. Still, the old adage remains true: don’t believe everything you read. As long as you go into these sites with the right mindset, they can be a really great resource. Use them as you would any other tool, and don’t forget to run your own review after you have visited the physician and have an opinion.
