Healthgrades

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/12/01) */
Dear [redacted], DDS,
Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals. In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to...

provider practices from publicly available sources. Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades' policies prohibit me from completely removing your profile information from our website.
Regards,
[redacted]
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/12/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Healthgrades's answer does not respect my Company Policy of privacy. What [redacted] call "prohibition" is not a fundamental reason to respect my choice. Healthgrades being a private company the owners can do whatever they want to.
I wonder if they have more valid reasons like how much money represent for them to have somebody removed from their marketing list.
The answer I received is completely unsatisfactory.
Thank you in advance to Revdex.com Denver intervention to repect my choice.
CR
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/12/23) */
Ms. [redacted],
Healthgrades apologies that you are not satisfied however our conclusions remain the same.
Regards,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/11/23) */
Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com!
I have updated the address, phone number and fax number. This will replicate to our consumer site within 24-48 business hours. At one time, NPI had the fax number listed as XXX-XXX-XXXX. ...


Please let me know if we may further assist you.
Regards,
[redacted]
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 8, 2015/11/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Complaint Response Date bumped because: Holiday

Dear [redacted], Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.   We have received your requests dated 12/11/17 and 12/12/17 sent from the contact us form, and as you’ve noted in your complaint here, we did respond. Healthgrades allows mental healthcare...

providers (social worker, psychiatrist, psychologist, etc) with a confirmed degree to opt out of surveys.  The reason is because of the ethical constraints that the American Board of Psychology imposes that does not allow for solicitation of surveys/ratings.  While the individual provider may not necessarily be seeking reviews, Healthgrades does not want to interfere with any treatment of patients so when a mental healthcare provider requests, Healthgrades will disable the survey functionality.  If you feel that Healthgrades has your degree information incorrect and you are indeed a mental healthcare provider, we encourage you to reach out to the Illinois Board of Professional Regulation to update your degree information.  As of today, both NPI and the Illinois Board of Professional Regulation have your degree as Licensed Speech Language Pathology Temporary.  Once this has been corrected with the licensing board, please let us know so that we may revisit our data.  Finally, Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website.  However, while we collect information that is in the public domain for licensed healthcare providers, many providers elect to manage their own profiles for free on our website and update them with their most current information.  We do see that you created a user account to access our provider portal and agreed to the specific healthcare provider terms and conditions.  https://update.healthgrades.com/user-agreement  Please review this agreement in its entirety.   Healthgrades has rejected the data you submitted on 12/12/17 for being inaccurate (name change, address change, etc).I apologize that you are dissatisfied however our conclusions remain the same. Regards,Cindi R[redacted]Healthgrades

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.We have reviewed your complaint and found that there is a comment/star rating that does not meet our criteria for display and will be suppressed.  This will be reflective on our consumer site within 24-48 business hours.  We would...

like to remind you that pursuant to our terms, all parties that submit surveys agree to the following statement: “By submitting this form, you agree to the terms and conditions of Healthgrades User Agreement, Editorial Policy and Privacy Policy and certify you or a family member has had contact with this practice.  You also confirm that you do not work for, are no in competition with and are not related to the provider in the review.” [redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]

Dear [redacted], Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com. We are unable to find that you submitted any comment under the email address: [redacted].  You did submit a star rating on a provider dated 1/8/2015.  We did not have open comments in 2015.  ...

Without knowing who the provider is that you allegedly submitted a comment for AND the channel (email, text) including the email address/text number, we have no way to look into this complaint.  If you need further assistance, please provide more detail to the Revdex.com or directly to Healthgrades. Additionally, I do not find that you contacted Healthgrades regarding this issue.  If you used a different name/email address to contact Healthgrades – please also provide that information as well. Regards, [redacted]Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 11307078, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
*

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com. Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from...

publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website.  As you know, Healthgrades operates a website which provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sources and accepts user comments.  Healthgrades is an objective source and does not block content from specific individuals at the request of 3rd parties. Upon review of the survey data we have determined that the survey comment meets Healthgrades criteria for display. Accordingly, our business rules would prohibit us from removing any such survey data from our site.  We remind you that survey submissions at healthgrades.com represent the individual opinions of patients and are aggregated for the benefit of consumers.      To respond to an individual patient comment, please log into our provider portal.  Keep in mind Healthgrades is a community driven site.  All comments from provider and patients are filtered for inappropriate content prior to being published.  We encourage you to read the Best Practices pdf and watch the educational video: [redacted] Please remember, HIPAA compliance is YOUR obligation. You must have a portal account in order to respond.  Healthgrades cannot post a response on behalf of a provider.     https://update.healthgrades.com/account/sign-in   In the left hand rail, hover on the blue silhouette of a person, (next to Basic Information) Select ‘Patient Experience’ Select ‘Patient Review’ Locate the comment you want to reply to and click on the white 'reply' bubble on the right. Replies will go through an audit process and will not be available on our consumer site immediately. If you have questions, please use our ‘contact us’, located at the bottom of the provider portal page.Regards,[redacted]Healthgrades

Dear [redacted], Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.  I have reviewed your correspondence with the Revdex.com and Healthgrades regarding your complaint.  The home address was in the [redacted]/NPI file and was listed as your business practice address.  Whoever filled out...

your paperwork for your NPPS/NPI number listed this address.  I have attached a copy of this form so that you may correct this at the source.  I have updated the address to be consistent with the address on file with the [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted].  Finally, I have also requested that our provider ratings support team suppress ratings functionality for ratings on your profile because of your specialty, mental healthcare. You will receive a separate email from that team today or tomorrow regarding this.  Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website.  Please note that because the current address information is coming from a public registry [redacted] ([redacted]) where you have provided your home address & phone number as the business practice address, other sites may still utilize this address and phone number despite any changes made on our site.  In order to correct the publicly available source of this information, you may also wish to update her business address directly with the [redacted].Regards,[redacted]Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Dear [redacted]Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.The phone number that was posted (414) came from the [redacted] where you listed that number as your business practice phone number.  This public directory is accessed by hundreds and...

hundreds, if not thousands of businesses.  Although Healthgrades has updated your phone number per your request through our live chat on 8/11/16, the source of your private number is still in the public venue and is still being disseminated.  We suggest that you correct this at the source of the data.  I trust this has resolved the concern in this complaint.  If not, please let us know.Regards,[redacted]Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I do not want to reply to the alleged complaint.  I would like to remove myself from the survey portion of the website altogether.  I never consented to this, and do not wish to participate.    Please remove the survey portion of my profile 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.Healthgrades operates a website which provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to...

provider practices from publicly available sources and accepts user comments.  Healthgrades is an objective source and does not block content from specific individuals at the request of 3rd parties.Upon review of the survey data we have determined that the survey comment meets Healthgrades criteria for display. Accordingly, our business rules would prohibit us from removing any such survey data from our site.  We remind you that survey submissions at healthgrades.com represent the individual opinions of patients and are aggregated for the benefit of consumers.   To respond to an individual patient comment, please log into our provider portal.  Keep in mind Healthgrades is a community driven site.  All comments from provider and patients are filtered for inappropriate content prior to being published.  We encourage you to read the Best Practices pdf and watch the educational video:[redacted]Please remember, HIPAA compliance isYOUR obligation.You must have a portal account to respond.  Healthgrades cannot post a response on behalf of a provider. [redacted]  In the left hand rail, hover on the blue silhouette of a person, (next to Basic Information)Select ‘Patient Experience’Select ‘Patient Review’Locate the comment you want to reply to and click on the white 'reply' bubble on the right.Replies will go through an audit process and will not be available on our consumer site immediately.If you have questions, please use our ‘contact us’, located at the bottom of the provider portal page.

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com. I see that you emailed Healthgrades on 11/4/16 and received a reply from us on 11/8/16.  I do apologize because you should have been offered a choice to turn off all survey functionality on your profile.  This is due to your...

specialty.  Please let me know if you would like us to remove the survey functionality (which would also remove all existing reviews).  Or you may email [redacted] with your decision. As to your request to have your profile removed entirely from our database ~ Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website.  However, while we collect information that is in the public domain for licensed healthcare providers, many providers elect to manage their own profiles for free on our website and update them with their most current information.  To the extent you provide me with an updated business address for you, I am happy to complete that update.   Regards,[redacted]Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:This was never my patient.  Please remove the comment
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Dear [redacted]Thank you for contacting Healthgrades.Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to...

provider practices from publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website.  I have updated your address to include the following:[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]You may also make updates to the profile here utilizing our free provider portal: [redacted] Finally, because you are an [redacted], you may opt out of all surveys including the functionality.  If you would like Healthgrades to suppress the survey functionality (and thereby suppressing the existing surveys), please respond with YES so that I may put in a ticket to have this action started. Regards,[redacted]Healthgrades

Dear [redacted], Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com. Your case has been sent to me to review.  Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this...

service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your service is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this profile information from our website.   Regards,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2015/07/31) */
Thank you for your inquiry. When you dialed the number on healthgrades.com, you called a hospital referral service for which Healthgrades provides call center services. As a provider of call center services, individuals within the call center...

answer and respond to calls as the hospital referral service. The referral service is provided by hospitals as a public service to facilitate the making of appointments with their physicians who are part of their referral service program. Information you provide is passed ** the physician's office for the purpose of scheduling appointments. In some cases, the physician's office may request the same information again, or additional information. Neither the call center nor Healthgrades has retained any personal information related to your call to the physician referral service. Additionally, as a result of your concern, I have confirmed that we does not possess any information that may have been collected as a result of your use of its website.
Regards,
[redacted]

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com. I have reviewed your complaint and cases that you have sent to Healthgrades. With regard to your comment about ‘a form of extortion’ ~ that is simply not true.  Here is exactly what was conveyed in an email to you dated...

9/8/2016: ”We encourage you to invite your patients to fill out a survey about you so that others have a clearer picture of your practice. Please use the following link where you can print cards to hand out to patients directing them to your survey site.” That being said, Healthgrades encourages all providers to connect with their patients to find out how they are doing as a care giver.  Ironically, on the same day you filed the complaint with the Revdex.com, 9/9/16, there were more than 38 submissions of positive surveys that trace back to your office/staff (submitted after receiving Healthgrades reply email).  This is contradictive of your complaint that Healthgrades is extorting you.    While we have removed the false surveys from your profile, please be advised that if Healthgrades continues to observe further deceptive activity on your profile, we will disable the survey functionality. Finally, Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website.  Regards, [redacted] Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc.

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.I apologize that your issue was not handled in the way Healthgrades business rules dictate.  Healthgrades allows mental healthcare providers, upon request, to opt out of the Healthgrades survey functionality because we do not want the survey...

system to interfere with treatment of these patients. Because you are a mental health provider, Healthgrades will suppress all surveys and remove the survey functionality.  This will take 24-48 business hours to replicate to our consumer site.  Respectfully,[redacted]Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Dear [redacted],Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionals.  In its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to...

provider practices from publicly available sources.  Because you are a practicing provider and the published information regarding your practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website. Regarding the comments/opinions ~ Healthgrades allows mental healthcare providers to opt out of all things survey because we do not want interference with treatment.  If you want to opt out of surveys please reply to me here:  [redacted]  What this means is that we will take away all existing surveys/stars and the functionality will be suppressed.  If we do not receive notification from you at the email address above, the survey functionality will remain along with the existing content.Regards,[redacted]Healthgrades

I am a (Master's level) therapist in Philadelphia, PA. I have been with the same company for almost 10 years. I discovered, a few years into working her, that
I had a site on Healthgrades. In reading their reviews, some people have complained you about the same issues I am writing about. I never asked to be put on Healthgrades.
My info was inaccurate. That may be to my advantage. I do not want my clients to know my home address and number. I stress strong boundaries with my clients. They have me as a psychoanalyst. I am not a doctor, never have been, nor would I ever pretend to be. I wrote them several times, asking to be removed. finally, I was able to
call them. They sent me an application/deletion form. #4 question: "Do you wish to
delete from the site (or something like that) of course I checked off "YES!!" It's been
two weeks, I am still up there. I was reading the other reviews. Everyone complains
about the same thing: INACCURATE AND UNAUTHORIZED INFORMATION. Please read Healthgrades/reviews. A Definite Pattern of unethical behavior. My NPI number (of which I never asked for) is [redacted]. You have helped others, please help take my information off this awful site.