Some solicit, others sue: Doctors take various tacks to respond to online reviews
An oft-used maxim in U.S. health care is that patients ought to be treated more like consumers. Their feedback about medical services should be valued, and they should be given a chance to express their concerns.
But with more patients speaking up — via hospital surveys and third-party rating websites — inevitable tensions are emerging. Negative comments sting. Doctors targeted by them get angry. And in some cases, the feedback from patients gets labeled something else entirely: defamation.
A steady drip of legal disputes over online reviews are putting those tensions on display. In Texas, a pair of freestanding emergency a legal petition seeking to force Google to share the identities behind 22 screen names connected to negative comments about the providers’ services.
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days