Posted January 30, 2011 in Blog, Plastic Surgery in the News, Uncategorized
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me” means that people cannot hurt you with bad things they say or write about you. The childhood idiom that we have used as comfort against cruel words seems to have met it’s match on today’s Internet. At the recent Rejuvenation of the Face meeting sponsored by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery lecture topics included physician rating sites such as Yelp, Vitals.com, RateAMD, and others.
A renowned Texas rhinoplasty surgeon whose reputation is beyond reproach is contemplating retirement because of the trauma caused by a disgruntled patient’s online libelous attack. A most prominent hair transplant surgeon who treats patients from all corners of the world has spent the last year battling a review site and a patient to have a review removed that paralysed his practice. Another shared how when she contacted Yelp about removing an unwarranted negative review, she was told that if she invested in paid advertisement on Yelp then the review might be removed. Personally I have found that negative reviews are kept at the top of the list despite many other positive reviews.
I have practiced for 25 years and currently have two negative reviews with harmful and hurtful words on these sites. Both of these patients had rhinoplasty over 10 years ago. As with all of my rhinoplasty patients, they were told before surgery that there is no guarantee of results and that there is a 5-10% revision rate in rhinoplasty in the best of hands. Patients are also informed that should a revision rhinoplasty be needed, they will not be charged any further surgeon’s fees, but that they will be responsible for operating room and anesthesia fees. One of the reviews was written 8 years after the last time the patient visited my office.
A physician advocate company, Medical Justice, recommends that physicians have patients sign an agreement that prohibits discussion of their care online. Others argue that physicians who have patients sign these agreements are attempting to unjustly “silence” their patients. Another speaker suggested that the best method to counter negative speech online is with more speech.
Unhappy patients are more likely to take the time and go to the trouble of writing reviews online, while happy and satisfied patients do not usually go on line to share their experience. I appreciate reviews from my patients. I refuse to have my patients sign online “silence” agreements and will not participate in online discussions with ‘sticks and stones” throwing patients.
I will continue to strive to treat all of my patients to the best of my abilities.
To those of you who have been one of my patients over the past 25 years, please visit one of the online review websites to share your experiences with me.
Yelp http://www.yelp.com/biz/dr-persky-md—facial-plastic-surgeon-encino
Vitals http://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Michael_Persky.html
Google http://goo.gl/Mwrq
Thank You and be well.
Dr. Persky
Dr Michael Persky is located in Encino, California but services all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Including, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Malibu, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and more
