What if we could rate our patients and colleagues?

Our feelings might not always find their way out—they may collide with walls or remain locked up inside. But we may, one day, find an outlet for them— especially if those feelings denounce injustice and fight it, even if it is a simple injustice because injustice is injustice, no matter how simple it is. Our life as physicians is not immune to unfairness. We face it on a daily basis and on different levels but our goal is the same: good patient care. I recognize that when people are upset, they vent in different ways. It’s the same for some patients; when they experience something they do not like or want, or feel they didn’t receive the care they were expecting to in their doctors’ offices, they go to Google or RateMDs.com to vent, or even express their rage. In doing so, they knowingly (or maybe unknowingly) oppress doctors and their assistants even when they go beyond what is the norm. A few years ago, while I was away from the office, a colleague texted about a comment about me posted on RateMDs (it was deleted later by the administrator). The comment was vindictive; it warned patients against seeking my services because I would purportedly prescribe narcotics to get them addicted so I could earn money off of that. It also mentioned an incident where I had given a penicillin injection in the office to a patient who was allergic, causing the person to develop anaphylaxis and require a 911 call. The person who rated me was sitting in the waiting room “watching the scene,” he wrote. Read: Tips for handling irate or rude patients The interesting part is that I actually don’t prescribe narcotics, except to my patients for a short duration when highly indicated. I have never given penicillin in my office either, and I’m not even sure if this can be done in doctors’ offices. The injustice of these comments genuinely annoyed me and made me very furious, particularly because I couldn’t refute them. But what if I had the opportunity to comment and disclose the person’s name on a website and explain why he did what he did? Not only would I be able to ‘red flag’ this person, but people would know that there are consequences when their comments are inaccurate. This time I swallowed the injustice and went on with it. I suspect that even those colleagues who say they’re not bothered by what people write about them would probably be annoyed by the nasty accusations expressed in this comment—especially because it was clearly written to besmirch me, regardless of whether it was written by a patient or “colleague.” Some might say colleagues don’t have time to go to ratemds.com and rant about other colleagues. But, given what happened recently in response to my article, A sick doctor shouldn’t wait eight hours in the ER, I’d say they do have time. Read: Struggles facing family doctors are real Since we can’t rate our patients or other people, I imagine a made-up website, www.ratepatients.com, where we can express the way we feel about how some people behave and treat us—in or outside of our clinics. Since I am the founder of this entirely not real website, I’ll go first. • I saw Mr. JY today for abdominal pain. He was very rude and disrespectful. He shouted at the staff because he was asked to pay for his sick note. If Mr. JY continued behaving in the same way I will send him a warning letter, and if he continues still, I will fire him. I advise against any doctor taking him on as a patient. Punctuality: 5 Respect to the staff: 0 Respect to the physician: 0 Attitude: 0 Transparency: 2 • I saw Mrs. Stensen today and she was 40 minutes late for her appointment. She is a polite and nice person. She was advised to be punctual in her future appointments. She apologized for her lateness. She is a pleasure to work with. Punctuality: 2 Respect to the staff: 5 Respect to the physician: 5 Attitude: 5 Transparency: 5 • Dr. A is a good doctor but his attitude towards colleagues is brutal. He belittles them in front of his patients and even writes false things about them to boost himself. He may falsify information or incidents to besmirch his colleagues. He was seen writing inappropriate things about other doctors. Punctuality: NA Respect to the staff: NA Respect to the physician: 0 Attitude: 0 Transparency: 0 If you would like to rate anybody—except your doctor—please click here. Dr. Jabir Jassam is a family physician in Ottawa. Read: Is virtual care about as good as an in-person appointment? Half of Albertans think so

What if we could rate our patients and colleagues?

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