Yesterday we wrote about a San Francisco pizzeria proudly displaying their negative comments on their uniforms. Today, we’re looking at a case where negative reviews are being handled not publicly, but with cease and desist orders.
In a recent story, it was brought to light that it is becoming more and more common for doctors to require patients to sign gag orders that will bar them from posting reviews (mainly negative ones) online. Doctors cite that negative reviews can “unfairly ruin their reputation”.
Of course, you will always have bitter people posting unfair reviews online, it comes with the territory, but I don’t believe that people are choosing a doctor purely based on reviews from sites like RateMDs.com.
Reviews must always be taken with a grain of salt. They are an amazing place to gather information, but certainly not the only information source one should look at. To me, a doctor’s offline word of mouth reputation is more important than online reviews, and is how I have chosen all of my physicians.
What would be the first thing that came into your mind if your doctor asked you to sign a gag order banning you from posting reviews? I would think that he has something to hide and terrified of people saying bad things. He would not be my doctor.
Doctors are no different than any other business when it comes to reviews. They offer a service and depend on loyal customers to be successful. They are not immune from the rules of customer service. Instead of worrying about blocking the negative things being said, address them and make people want to write positive reviews instead.
