The Doctor Will See You…IF You Promised Not To Critique Them

It takes a lot for me to get offended, but I find this offensive.  The WSJ Blog mentioned it this morning, and when I clicked through the links, it seems like a total disconnect with the technology world.

Medical Justice Inc. has put together a contract physicians can ask their patients to sign. In it, patients promise not to post anything about their experience, good or bad, without your prior approval. The organization calls it a “vaccine against libel.” (AMA article)

This seems ridiculous to me.  Don’t we all have reputations that we work and go to school to create and protect.  Doesn’t every business have a brand equity that they work to protect.  This is nothing new.  So trying to create a fascist environment where public comment about your services is not allowed is ridiculous.

What’s next?  Hotels that won’t let you stay there unless you don’t rate them.  eBay not allowing feedback on buyers and sellers.  Architects not letting you visit their buildings unless you promise to like them and not comment about them.

This is a new economy which is driven by consumers.  Healthcare is going to be part of that like it or not.  Patients should have choice and should have transparent access to how physicians and other providers perform.  I am not against establishing some standards in terms of how the experience is evaluated, but censoring speech seems like the WRONG way to accomplish this.

Why don’t they focus on helping the physician create a positive experience, be responsive to criticism, and get patients that like them to post their comments.  We all realize that one or two people can be negative about a person or company, but that can be outweighed by a hundred positive reviews.