its all about FREEDOM OF SPEECH....don't spit on the constitution that grants us that right...which includes the right to protest in ANY form or fashion, As long as I am not hurting the doctor physically.

I'm guessing that the doctors who want their patients to sign these contracts know they're going to get dinged on the internet either because of their poor people skills or their poor professional skills. Either way, I would be very suspicious of a doctor asking me to sign a contract essentially barring my first amendment rights.  I think if a physician has an unusually high number of complaints posted, it's evident something is amiss. Mutual respect and feeling comfortable communicating with your physician is just as important as the physician's medical skills. If a patient is really concerned about the physician's medical skills, then there are websites where any disciplinary action against a physician is readily available.

Being a Registered Nurse for many years and having worked with and for many Physician's, I would take skill hands down over bedside manner if I was having surgery. Charm doesn't give the best results. Save it for your PCP.

Malicious rumors and dissatisfied patients comments need to placed in a separate category.

But reporting the existance of another quack physician in our midst is the right of every person. They already do enough harm to unsuspecting patients. Then add on top of that more new doctors that have no business in the profession, I think not.

It is no different than spreading the word about another shyster attorney or a car dealership that takes advantage of little old ladies.

Why would I not want to keep someone else from being duped or injured permanently because of a incompetent Doctor?

Doctors who provide successful results for their patients should have nothing to worry about. It is those physicians who have something to hide such as botched surgeries, inadequate prescriptions, under or over treating patients who want to keep their activities secret. Then there are the drug companies who 'buy' doctors with their lobbying efforts to push one drug over another or use one hi-tech piece of equipment to perform a procedure they come into play. It's time physicians are held accountable for their actions. If they perform and care for their paying patients in an upright manner they should have nothing to hide, if they do not or if they continue to overcharge and push procedures patients do not need to pad their own pockets then they should surely be held accountable. What is wrong with transparency with those people who hold our lives in their hands? What are they really afraid of that they need a patients to sign a this form? State regulatory agencies certainly do not discipline physicians to any degree. Americans need to hold these people accountable, we should be demanding access to physician performance records so we have the knowledge necessary to make a sound and informed decision before handing over our bodies to them.

The doctor's interpersonal skills are just as important as his medical skill. As a matter of act, they are inseparable. I've learned not to back down to arrogant doctors. It's an ungoing skill that I'm perfecting. Many doctors do not listen, are arrogant and downright rude. More proper places to complain do not exist. Medical boards are already aware of the fact that many of their doctors have bad bedside manners. I first heard that as a child, and I am now in my late 40s. Medical boards do not discipline doctors for rudeness. Patients need to do it.

I would sign a waiver for my current doctor because he has been and is a very good doctor. I have been to many shoddy doctors in the past, and I feel that many of them think their stuff doesn't stink because they have that medical degree, but when you find a good doctor, I think you would agree about signing the waiver. I have not been asked to do it though. I work in the medical field, and I have seen the bedside manner of many many doctors and it is atrocious the way some of them behave, but some of that "arrogance" is not really arrogance at all, they really do know what they are talking about and they just don't know how not to be arrogant.

I notice that complaints often cite a feeling that the doctor is lofty and/or cold but does not rise to the level of incompetence or malpractice, just a subjective view of the patients. First, doctors are not walking x-ray machines, nor do they possess “magical” powers. They cannot look through you and know what is wrong much less cure you. The DEPEND on a patient to TELL THEM their symptoms and then ask the patients questions to clarify answers to their questions in order to elucidate the doctor to make the decision whether to ask that tests be done if learning of he symptoms can’t lead to a definitive diagnosis.

That said, having an outlet to vent such feelings just might make the doctor aware of how he or she is perceived and lead to a change of attitude. This could be a good thing and just might lead to a change of attitude on the part of some physicians (and there are many who are in serious need of a personality transplant!).

As for being asked to sign a contract that would prevent me from reviewing a doctor online? Such hubris! And since when should any patient have to forfeit his or her Constitutional right to free speech in order to be treated? That’s as bad as demanding cash from an uninsured patient before agreeing to even look at the symptoms even though the patient is in extreme pain It happened to me. The doctor wouldn’t let me remove my shirt but rather instructed me to go to the bank and get $200 cash! I left, passed my bank on the way, and went home only to wind up in the emergency room very late that night!

While it's important to protect doctors and other service providers from slander, doctors shouldn't be shielded from feedback. Let's face it, many of them act arrogantly. Maybe it's because they feel overworked and in a hurry, but if things are going to change, they need to know how their customers see them. The whole medical system needs to start seeing itself as a service industry if it's going to provide the kind of healthcare Americans are looking for. Other service industries live and die by customer feedback. So should medicine. That doesn't mean doctors should make medical decisions based on what the patient thinks. But they'd better learn how to educate the patient about what they're doing and gain the patient's trust. If they do that, they won't have to worry about nasty comments being published online.

The only regulation of physicians is peer regulation. While MD's are required to complete CME's they are not required to complete ongoing competencies. Alerting the public to potentially unsafe and/or ineffective practitioners through experience is a good way to help limit problems.

The medical system could head this problem of theirs off by establishing a three-part rating system for themselves. Every doctor and medical facility could be independently rated on patient feedback, medical skill and medical outcome of treatments. This would provide a fair comparison for patients to see and for doctors to use in improving their professional skills.

Incompetent doctors and PA`s need to be policed somehow and if they are good they should not care about internet postings. I am bias however since I just lost my husband to cancer that should have been discovered much earlier. He was treated for chronic bronchitis for 11 months before I insisted we go to the emergency room for his symptoms. His doctor had never ordered a chest x-ray over that period and within 3 hours the er had diagnosed his 3mm tumor encasing the pulmonary artery and paralyzed his vocal cords(hence the hoarseness). Of course it took a couple of days to tell us what kind and to get his tests complete but this doctor had ignored the hoarseness because of asthma.(He said) He was diagnosed in Sept, and died in June. Of course I don`t blame the doctor for his cancer but he was negligent in his treatment and callous in his treatment of me during my husbands illness. I live in a small town but on one visit for me(during his treatments) the doctor didn`t even know who I was. Said it was great we caught the cancer because of chest pains. He was talking about another patient. Didn`t even know who I was even though he had my chart right in front of him. Of course I now have a different doctor but feel others should know about him. I am all for public ratings of physicians. Educated people should be able to tell the difference between malicious postings and real concerns such as mine.

The excuse that a physicians' poor people skills may obsfucate the ability of the reviewer to write an objective article is lame. If you are a great attorney but still torque the judge off you cannot do a good job for your client so what is so hard to understand about if a doctor irks his patient that his prowess as a phsyician is similarly compromised. If a highly trained skilled physician cannot control his emotional outbursts, frustrations and rage during normal everyday personal face to face encounters why would I and why should trust him with my critical health care needs in crisis?

I have dealt with many arrogant doctors in my dealings with chronic pain. I had dealt with one doc with whom I had to tell that I have more degrees in more fields than he did as a doctor and not to talk down to me as my IQ was most likely higher than his. He then treated me with respect. The thing is, they think they are smarter than all others because of their many years in Medical school. I told him going to school didn't make him smart any more than standing in a garage made him a car...

If I ever saw a doctor who attempted to have me sign one of these agreements, I would laugh, and leave the office right then and there. Sorry, docs, you are subject to reviews just like any other professional in any other line of work. I recenly discovered online physician reviews, and they are one of the best tools for patients looking for a quality, competent doctor. I have had some excellent physicians in my time, but also enough really bad ones - doctors who did not listen, constantly interrupted, were arrogant, condescending, and ignorant about recent medical advancements - to know how important it is to get the best picture you can about who you are trusting with your health.

It seems to me, rather than creating a hostile environment for patients, it would be more fruitful and more genuine if these doctors lobbied the state and federal governments to create truly accurate oversight bodies where complaints are vigorously investigated by qualified investigators, and more importantly, valid complaints are made public for everyone to review.

People have to realize, Doctors practice medicine. The don't know everything. No one does, there are some good and some bad. Its just sad to think that the richest country in the world cant get good medical help, or take care of there poor. Explain that one for me.

To bdebmac; If doctors are practicing medicine. WHY DO THEY CHARGE SO MUCH. In fact if they dont know, how can they charge you at all. I know this story very well. Three years I lived in severe pain and fear. The problem occured after a new drug was prescribed to me for my diabetes. (never made it through the whole bottle). When the heart problems started. All I was told for those three years was THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR HEART. Its in your head. They even sent me to a shrink. That was until I had not ONE but TWO massive heart attacks withen two weeks. ( the second one the day they released me) And do you know what that geedy BASTARD told me. This is practice of medicine we dont know every thing. What a line of . The problem is GREED in the medicial profession, and you have to look no futher than the women with six kids who now has eight more. That was done to make money and the only reason it was done. Take the money away, then you will have Doctors who care more about thier profession than money.

You have nothing to fear but fear itself unless what the person is posting is true....

I have had the experience of telling a dentist about what a previous dentist did wrong, told him that if he wasn't very careful that he too would do it wrong for the same reason and had him go ahead and do it wrong again and then want to charge me for the redo. I've had this kind of experience over and over with doctors of all varieties. Some are so arrogant that they don't give what the patient says any consideration. MDs have misdiagnosed me all my life, treated me based on those wrong diagnoses and when the treatments didn't work, blamed me for it because Its All In Your Head and then when the real problem was finally found after 55 years dismissed me from their practices when I informed them of the real problem. A lifetime of problems has cleared up with correct treatment by an MD who doesn't play blame the patient.