Website to rate doctors a serious concern

For immediate use

26 July 2018

Website to rate doctors a serious concern; questions asked about fairness, safety, and vested interests of health insurance companies

“The launch of a website that allows patients to rate their doctors sets a dubious precedent with no guarantee of greater transparency or improved quality of care,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

“Not only that, it raises serious concerns about fair treatment of doctors if comments can be made about them without any context or attempt at verification. For example, what happens if a doctor initiates child protection proceedings because they are concerned about a child’s well-being, and one of the parents involved subsequently rates the doctor poorly or posts negative comments?

“There are circumstances in which comments posted on the website could post an actual danger to the doctor’s safety, for example when doctors perform abortions or carry out other treatment or procedures that some individuals or groups find contentious.”

Mr Powell was commenting on the New Zealand launch of the whitecoat.co.nz website, already active in Australia as a digital health care directory. The site allows patients to rate their doctor across several categories and to comment on their overall impressions.

“Everyone working in health care wants a high quality, transparent and accountable public health sector but this is not the way to do it. It’s simplistic, flawed, potentially very unfair and without context. We don’t know what checks and balances are in place and there are no disclosures on the website about how the initiative is being funded.

“It’s also important to make the point that popularity and charm in a health professional does not automatically mean a higher standard of clinical practice or better outcomes of care – for example, Dr Harold Shipman was loved by his patients!

“Patient care is more complex than this. Patients in New Zealand’s public health system do not have the luxury of choice with regard to their treatment provider, and it is irresponsible to suggest that they do. They are not choosing between different types of vacuum cleaners; they need compassionate, qualified expert medical care, not the latest brand. And that type of treatment is usually delivered by teams of health professionals, rather than a single doctor.

“Patients are not consumers, and doctors are not commodities.

“There are other ways in New Zealand to be assured of the quality of care you are receiving. For instance, all medical specialties have professional colleges that oversee their training and monitor their practice. There are a range of government agencies and disciplinary bodies, as well as registration agencies such as the Medical Council and processes for reporting adverse events and deaths.”

Mr Powell says ASMS has strong concerns about the backing of health insurance companies with their own vested interests for the whitecoat website. He called for greater transparency about the organisation’s funding and business relationships, and mechanisms to ensure doctors were not singled out.

ENDS

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