Blue House Blog > April 2009 > A call to submit medical reports

Posted: 4/29/2009 11:02:44 AM By Mason King | 6 comments


On May 5, I’ll be sporting a back-drafty hospital gown with black dress socks while watching “Judge Judy” in a waiting room. On top of that, I'll be double-fisting barium sulfate smoothies that make my insides glow for MRI machines.

Not coincidentally, May 5 will mark the two-year anniversary of the discovery and panicked removal of a golf-ball-sized tumor in my pelvis.

I got off ridiculously easy: no chemotherapy, no radiation. Just snip-snip and sew-it-up. Tonsillitis would have been scarier. Today, I’m as healthy as a horse who does vinyasa-flow yoga.

The only bummer: regular MRIs to spot renegade cancer cells trying to make trouble.
The bright side: hobnobbing with an honest-to-goodness legend of modern medicine - celebrity oncologist Dr. Lawrence Einhorn.

You’ve seen him. He’s Lance Armstrong’s doctor, and mine. He virtually invented the treatment regimen for testicular cancer. You could argue that he’s saved more than 200,000 lives, and counting.

But you wouldn’t know it by looking on Angie’s List. No reports. No grades. Just another name.

Look, people. We’re serious at Angie’s List about rating physicians and other medical professionals. But we can’t do it alone. We need you to click on your doctors and submit reports.

I bet your internist, dermatologist, dentist, psychiatrist and oncologist are all on there. Get on Angie's List and write about them. If they're not, be the first person to submit a report on them.

There are thousands of doctors as talented and essential as Dr. Einhorn. Please tell your fellow Angie's List members about them.

Not everyone will be as lucky with their diagnosis and recovery as I was, but you can help people find the best care possible. Barium smoothies are better than the alternative.

Comments
Brian
I am not sure how Angie's List is legally being allowed to do this. I know the BBB does not take complaints on professional practices such as doctors or lawyers. They would however take a billing complaint.
If the patient says something bad about the doctor, how do you know the patient does not have a mental illness or has a medical degree to understand why the doctor did what they did??
If the patient says something good, how do you know they are not a coworker, family member ... Fact is, Angie's List does NOT know!! I don't know how anyone can take a testimonial/ complaint for face value. This seems like a extra way for Angie's List to solicit advertising from deep pocket doctors ...
5/17/2009 9:06:06 AM

Kathleen Knight
To "Doctor": If you do not consider yourself a health care provider, than you're probably not one. Too bad for your patients. My favorite providers are P.A.s who have wide medical knowledge, care about their patients, and know when to refer.
5/15/2009 1:18:14 PM

Doctor
I am a physician NOT a health care provider.
5/7/2009 12:15:14 AM

Maryer Thomas
I had suffered with sinusitis for years and refused to have the operation that would have alleviated my problems based on comments from people in the medical field which had a big impact on me. So I put it off for years until I could hardly breath from the congestion. I was referred to a great doctor Sean Bailey who performed the operation two years ago and I am really enjoying how great it is to breath again. It is good to listen to others and their experiences but be smart, do your own research and most of all find a good ENT doc who you are comfortable with and answers your questions. Take charge of your health and find out as much as you can about your illness.
5/6/2009 2:27:32 PM

Mason King
Britt: Thanks for your story! That reminds me of how I originally got my diagnosis. I had a sonagram, and then the tech called up my urologist and relayed the results. Then they put me on the phone at the nurses station so I could could talk with him, and his first words were, "Were you planning on having any children?" There really ought to be a law about face-to-face diagnoses, or at least giving the patient a nice Hallmark condolences card.

I hope your surgery went well! Best of luck to you.
5/5/2009 2:46:23 PM

Britt
I totally agree with you. I've had some really great docs and some awful, arrogant ones who totally missed a diagnosis. It's important to share those experiences.
On a funny note, I had surgery this week and had to talk to my doctor over the phone at the nurses station — with my backside flying bare. Lovely.
Glad to hear you're staying well!
5/4/2009 2:59:41 PM

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