Healthgrades

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because I believe a healthcare website has the responsibility not to encourage slander .there is no proof that the person posting is a patient .I tried to explain to Health Grades that what the person posted doesn't make any logical sense but to no avail .tomorrow anyone can post anything about anyone I suppose whether true or not and Health Grades will post it .Worst of all when my name is googled now that review on Health Grades pops up first , not on opening the Health Grades web site but simply on googling my name .I have given up on this issue .My name is slandered already for everyone to see and trying to reason with Health Grades just made the whole thing worse .Thanks for the response Revdex.com Sincerely, [redacted] ***

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 [redacted] *** [redacted] is a practicing provider and the published information regarding his practice is publicly available and of interest to the general public, Healthgrades’ policies prohibit me from completely removing this information from our website A provider may also respond to a comment/opinion that is posted on our website To do so, they can log into a provider portal: updated.healthgrades.com to post a reply.Respectfully,Healthgrades

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that they removed the survey option satisfactory

Dear Ms [redacted] , Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.I have reviewed the emails sent in and the responses by Healthgrades It looks as though this issue has been resolved Healthgrades removed the survey functionality because you agreed (and are a mental healthcare provider).If there is anything further we can assist with, please do not hesitate to reach out.Regards, [redacted] ***Healthgrades

Complaint: [redacted] Thank you, [redacted] **

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 to 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 The operators that answer the phone all are instructed to identify themselves as the ‘physician scheduling service’.I hope this has rectified your case and if not, please feel free to reach out to me directly [redacted] ) or reply to the Revdex.com.Regards, [redacted] ***Healthgrades Operating Co, Inc

Dear *** ***, Thank you for contacting Healthgrades and the Revdex.com. We understand your concern However,
Healthgrades has not violated HIPAA or FERPA regulation . We do take your complaint seriously and as such, we have sent your inquiry , along with the comment posted by “*** ***” to our Data Governance Committee to review . I will be in touch with you within days as to the decision of whether or not we will remove the comment. Additionally, we want to remind you that the poster can also request to have the comment removed at any time. I will be in contact with you within daysRegards, *** ***
Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

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 partiesUpon review of the survey data we have determined that the survey comment meets Healthgrades criteria for displayAccordingly, 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 attached Best Practices pdf and watch the educational video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amJWizaJd You must have a portal account in order to respond. Healthgrades cannot post a response on behalf of a provider. Please remember, HIPAA compliance is YOUR obligation https://update.healthgrades.com/account/sign-in In the left hand rail, hoover 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 rightReplies will go through an audit process and will not be available on our consumer site immediatelyIf you have questions, please use our ‘contact us’, located at the bottom of the provider portal pageFinally, pursuant to Healthgrades user agreement and Privacy Policy, we will not be able to provide any documentation regarding surveys on Healthgrades.com without a valid subpoenaRegards,*** ***Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com
We appreciate you letting us know of the error in the dataWe are sorry and never intended to publish a residential address
One of the data sources that Healthgrades uses lists this residential address as your business practice address
Healthgrades' intent is to collect the most accurate and complete information for all provider profiles
Immediately upon you contacting Healthgrades, we updated the profile and removed your home address
Regards,
*** ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: The NPI number and address are correct as far as all parties relevant to my business are concerned, ie not Healthgrades.Healthgrades insists that my office is located at an address which in reality is and lists only one address.Whatever criteria Healthgrades has adopted to list a business address is flawedGo to the location they have posted for me and there is no office thereTheir posting is factually inaccurateThey refuse to accept thisMy two locations are not listed at allWhen someone searches for my business on the internet Healthgrades has posted their inaccurate information just under the website I myself have paid for and has my business listed with one wrong address and a fictious reviewThe operator that communicated with me doesn't have a clue, did not want to listen to any of my concerns , told me to sue and hung up on meThey have no business being in this businessThey are incompetent
Sincerely,
*** ***

Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com. Healthgrades now has one profile in our database for you after you pointed out we had a duplicate profile. The only profile that remains is: *** If there is data that is
needing to be updated, you may access your provider profile through your free portal account here: update.healthgrades.com and make those updatesRegards, *** *** Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Dear *** ***, MD Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.comBecause of your specialty (mental healthcare) you are allowed to opt out of all surveys and the survey functionality. You should have received an email asking if you want us to remove the survey functionality from
the profile. 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 Respectfully,*** ***Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Dear *** ***, **,Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.Healthgrades allows surveys/comments/opinions as long as a healthcare provider is actively in clinical medicine and seeing patients regardless of if the provider is seeing the patient in a clinic, surgery center,
hospital, etc.Would you please tell me when you finished your residency and at what institution? I hopeful to help you with this complaint. Regards *** *** Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/07/08) */
Dear Dr***,
We appreciate your feedback via the Revdex.comI am pleased to let you know that Healthgrades is at the end of internal development that will allow patients to leave comments in a reviewThese free form comments will still be
tied to the ratings however, this is coming soon!
Healthgrades operates a website which provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionalsIn its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sources and accepts user responses to a standard multiple choice survey
Our patient experience survey provides healthcare consumers with the capability to evaluate their experience with a provider by having them respond to a series of predefined questions, in which they provide a numerical ratingEach provider's Overall Patient Experience Score is based on an aggregation of individual patient satisfaction scores and is solely based upon the individual users' own experiences
Highlighting the fact all such responses represent individual opinions is a hyperlink on each provider's profile called, "Patient Satisfaction"Clicking this link offers the following explanation in part: "Patient satisfaction ratings are personal opinionsSo before you chose this doctor, take into account the number of surveys they have and all aspects of their background - education, training and specialized experience - to ensure that they are the right fit for you."
Unfortunately Healthgrades cannot share individual information about the submitter per our privacy policy posted on our website
Finally, You have inquired regarding the veracity of the patient surveys relied upon by HealthgradesWe do inform the user that by completing the survey they are acknowledging they or a family member have visited the providerIn addition, Healthgrades currently sends the user an email requiring the user to return to the website to validate and publish their ratingsHealthgrades relies on the veracity of the persons completing the surveys
Regards,
*** ***
Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2015/06/05) */
Thank you for contacting Healthgrades
We did receive an email from you dated 10/12/however I am not seeing that there was a request for our legal counsel's addressBelow is a copy of the email: Please remove my
profile
Description
Contact First Name: ***
Contact Last Name: ***
Contact Email: ***@yahoo.com
PWID: null
Sponsored: null
User Type: Healthcare Provider
Major Category: Remove a Provider
Comment: The content of my profile is not accuratePlease remove the entire profileThank you
I have removed the age from the profile today and this will replicate to our consumer site within 24-business hours
Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionalsIn its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sourcesBecause 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 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 informationTo the extent you provide me with an updated business address for yourself, I am happy to complete that update for you
Per your request, Healthgrades legal counsel contact information is as follows
Healthgrades Legal Department
XXX XXth *** *** ***
*** ** XXXXX
Regards,
*** ***
Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 11, 2015/06/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I have informed Healthgrades.com that my profile information is outdatedI have requested that Healthgrades.com that they either prominently display on their website that the details of my profile are outdated or remove my profile in its entiretyThey have responded by stating that the information is obtained from publicly available databases
Their response does not address my concernBy refusing to inform their customers that the profile details are outdated they are misleading their customersStating that the information is obtained froma publicly available databse is an attempt to deflect my concern
*** I am not under any legal obligation to provide healthgrades.com with my updated information***
Healthgrades.com may address this solution by clearly stating on the profile of the physician that "The details displayed here are current as of xx/xx/xxxx"This will clearly inform the customer about the validity of the dispalyed dataThe current website of Healthgrades.com does not display such information and hence is deceptive to their customersIn my case, I have informed Healthgrades.com that my details are outdated, hence by refusing to mention it on their website, Healthgrades.com is at least in one instance (my case) indulging in deceptive business practiceThere are numerous complaints online which state that the vast majority of the data about physicians on Healthgrades.com is outdatedIt is so because, customers find out after they try to contact the physician that the profile data is outdatedI would like to re-iterate my request that either Healthgrades.com removes my profile or clearly states that the details displayed in the profile were current as of a particular date in the pastI am hoping that Healthgrades.com in the interest of professional integrity and honesty, will consider my request
Final Business Response /* (4000, 17, 2015/07/27) */
We apologize that we are unable to assist you further however our conclusions remain the same
Regards,
*** ***
Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 19, 2015/08/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Healthgrades.com has refused to further engage and assist in the resolution of this complaint

Dear *** ***, MDThank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.We have found that you were licensed in ** under license # ***. Additionally, insurance claims data suggests that you saw patients at *** *** *** *** *** ***. We have patients who live
outside ** but because of the proximity, the patient goes into ** for care. Was this a time when you were still in school? I have removed the address of: *** *** *** *** * *** *** *** ***
** *** ** *
*** *** ** *** The remaining address is *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** 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, *** *** Healthgrades

Initial Business Response /* *** ** *** */
Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com
We are in receipt of your two emails sent to us on 5/4/Once we have completed our investigation we will reply via the Revdex.com and to you directlyIn addition, I have updated your practice
addressThis will be reflective on our consumer site within 24-business hours
Regards,
*** ***
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* *** ** *** */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Hello,
I do appreciate the reply but want to note that I did not contact you all to change my addressI would like to be removed from the site all togetherI am a therapist working with folks with a myriad of Behavioral Health ConditionsI am not a doctor nor can I give a medical diagnosis'Does this make sense?
Thanks
Final Business Response /* *** *** *** */
Healthgrades provides information on healthcare providers as a free service to consumers, patients and other healthcare professionalsIn its provision of this service, Healthgrades aggregates information related to provider practices from publicly available sourcesBecause 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 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 informationTo the extent you provide me with an updated business address for yourself, I am happy to complete that update for you
We have however, suppress the survey functionality on our website and suppressed any reviews
Final Consumer Response /* *** *** *** */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Dear *** ***Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com.When you contacted Healthgrades on 9/you stated in your email that you were not practicing however it appears that you are practicing at *** ***. Healthgrades updated your address on 10/10/to ***
*** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** and notified you of the address update on the same date via email. On 10/14/at 9:05am MST you called Healthgrades and stated we had your home address. The rep told you at that time, the address had been updated however a Revdex.com complaint was filed later that day stating Healthgrades had your home address on our site - Healthgrades has already notified the provider TWICE that the address was updated (before the Revdex.com complaint was filed). Additionally, whoever filled out your paperwork (you state you filled out the paperwork) for your NPI number listed your home address as your business practice address. When Healthgrades downloads the file of million healthcare providers we only download the business practice address. My suggestion would be not to list a private address as a business address in the public domain going forward as thousands of companies access the business address information. I am happy to review the star rating if the provider gives more information on the ‘ex-husband who is cyber bullying her’. Most likely local law enforcement has been notified by the provider about this so I would just need some information from *** *** in order to begin an investigation.Regards, *** *** Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/04/29) */
Thank you for contacting Healthgrades via the Revdex.com
We appreciate you letting us know of the error in the dataWe are sorry and never intended to publish a residential addressOne of the public data sources that Healthgrades uses lists
this residential address as your business practice addressHealthgrades' intent is to collect the most accurate and complete information for all provider profilesI have removed this address
from our databaseThis will replicate to our consumer site within 24-business hoursIn addition, I have reported this address to the
3rd party vendor so they can purge this address from all data feeds
Healthgrades does not have open ended comments on our website, rather we have multiple choice surveysBecause you are a mental healthcare provider, Healthgrades allows suppression of functionality for surveys upon requestI have submitted a work request to have the functionality suppressed per your request
Regards,
*** ***
Healthgrades
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 12, 2015/07/15) */
Hi - I had responded to *** who was reviewing this case, but have not heard backThe business did take my home address off of their site, but did not respond to my other requests, such as removing patient reviews and closing the site to further comments for my nonexistent practice
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 15, 2015/07/22) */
Hi - I am attempting to "re-open" this case, as apparently the Revdex.com associate working on it left, and am not sure how to do so on the websiteI am also replying to the email I received
I am still concerned that this website has published "patient reports" about me, and continues to accept new reportsI am hoping they will delete the responses and close the site to further comments
I appreciate your assistance
Final Business Response /* (4000, 17, 2015/07/28) */
Dear *** ***,
We have suppressed the survey functionality and the surveys
Please let me know if I may further assist you
Regards,
*** ***
Healthgrades Operating Company, Inc

Dear Dr*** ***, Thank you for contacting Healthgrades again via the Revdex.com. I have read through your correspondence with Healthgrades. 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 3rdpartiesUpon review of the survey data we have determined that the survey comment meets Healthgrades criteria for displayAccordingly, 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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amJWizaJdPlease remember, HIPAA compliance is YOURobligationYou 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 rightReplies will go through an audit process and will not be available on our consumer site immediatelyIf you have questions, please use our ‘contact us’, located at the bottom of the provider portal page