 Provided by ReachMD
Online Reviews: Are Patient Waivers a Good Idea?
on Clinician's Roundtable
For years, people have turned to online review websites before deciding which restaurants or hotels most deserved their hard-earned dollars. Now, a new category of online reviews is growing, as more patients are posting their own editorials about their physicians. This trend towards patients reviewing their physicians online can be helpful at best, and inaccurate or harmful, at worst. Mr. Jim Speta, law professor at Northwestern University School of Law specializing in telecommunications and internet policy, discusses how physicians can protect themselves from defamatory or unfavorable internet reviews. Is it prudent to have patients sign waivers, barring them from writing online reviews, or are these waivers insignificant, thanks to the anonymity of the internet? What else can physicians do to protect themselves from any potential dangers of review websites?
 Dr. Michael Greenberg earned his medical degree in 1974 from the University of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine. He completed a pediatrics internship at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, and a dermatology residency at the University of Illinois Hospital, where he was chief resident in 1978.Dr. Greenberg is a certified by the American Board of Dermatology and is a graduate of the Chicago College of Naprapathy. He is author of the books Off the Pedestal: Transforming the Business of Medicine and A Man of Sorrows, writes a column for American Medical News, and is the editor-in-chief of Second Opinion Audio Magazine. Dr. Greenberg has been appearing on television and radio since 1989; his list of appearances includes "The Today Show," "The Dick Cavett Show," "The Tom Snyder Show," plus a week-long series on alternative healthcare he created for "Good Morning America."Dr. Greenberg is in private practice in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
James B. Speta is a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law, where he has been on the faculty since 1999. He writes on telecommunications and Internet policy, antitrust, and administrative law. He teaches a wide variety of classes in the Law School and in the Kellogg Graduate School of Business. Professor Speta is also faculty director of Northwestern's Executive LLM program in Seoul, where he has taught Business Associations, Administrative Law, Market Organization, and Intellectual Property. Prior to coming to Northwestern, Professor Speta practiced law for five years with the Chicago firm of Sidley & Austin, specializing in telecommunications law and appellate litigation. A 1991 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Professor Speta clerked after law school for the Honorable Harry T. Edwards on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.Professor Speta's recent articles have focused on reform of the Communications Act. He was one of the co-chairs of the Regulatory Framework working group with the Digital Age Communications Act project, through the Progress and Freedom Foundation. His publications can be accessed at http://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/fulltime/Speta/Speta.html.
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The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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