Patient Testimonials: To Share or Not to Share?

In today’s technological era, research is a resource one naturally turns to when one begins to have health problems. Following a cancer diagnosis, research on the internet turns more specific: those recently diagnosed might look for success stories to which they can relate, stories that involve people similar to themselves and how they beat cancer. Such research often leads to official hospital and clinic websites featuring many patient testimony videos and stories. 

Why should CMN be any different?

Why look to CMN as a competitive cancer treatment center, one that you can put your trust and life into, when there is less emphasis on featuring such positive, heart-warming success stories?

First, CMN has never solicited patients for success stories. We will never ask for public patient testimonies; rather, we believe in receiving, retaining, and implementing patient-driven feedback directly into the treatments and systems we currently have in place. Our reasoning for this can be traced back to the Hippocratic Oath, a code of ethics to which we hold our doctors.

As per the Hippocratic Oath, doctors have the responsibility to keep private the health of another patient - in person, through written communication, as well as on the world wide web. A patient may want to have their story featured on an official website because they want to share what worked for them and how they overcame their diagnosis. However, each patient is unique; what worked for someone may not work for another, and treatment plans should be discussed exclusively between a patient and their doctor. A doctor’s job is to treat their patients in the safest, most plausible manner regarding their cases.

Testimonies are extraneous to a doctor’s job; they must protect the confidentiality to which all patients are entitled. 

Patient testimonies are a snapshot of time; those most prevalent on the internet are written features or video interviews; rarely are they updated. This is antithetical to the life of someone diagnosed because, as many will tell you, the doctor’s checkups do not stop once treatment ends or when your patient's testimony is submitted and posted online. A patient has no idea what the future holds for them once they check out of the hospital, and it is highly unlikely that they will have the opportunity to revisit, revise, or update their patient testimony at any point after it has been published. 

Some people may conclude that if CMN has no testimonies, there may have been no success to share with the world in the last 30 years. Technology has greatly changed the medical field- both in treatment innovations as well as the ways in which we choose our doctors or even medicines. We rely on online reviews because they are helpful; if they have the ability to lead us to an amazing restaurant, why shouldn’t we look to the same type of resources when choosing something as life-changing as health care? Patient testimonies are much more congruent to commercials than they are to unfiltered Yelp reviews. They are edited and manufactured to appeal to our senses – there is warmth, comfort, and joy that fills the screen. This type of marketing suggests security, a reason to trust in that hospital or clinic’s treatment program but, unfortunately, this is not an accurate or conspicuous representation of all of their patients, and they have not succeeded with everyone. It is important to step back and consider why the testimony is on the page, or who initiated it. 

CMN Hospital’s Promise

CMN believes transparency is key in building an all-encompassing doctor-patient relationship, which CMN promises and holds as a high priority. CMN welcomes feedback constantly, and we want to build the best environment for our patients to heal and thrive. As such, we may feature this feedback on our website. However, we will never ask patients to be filmed or documented regarding their own personal healing experience, medical history, or any other personal anecdotes or private information. CMN does not emphasize or push for testimonies because of our work ethic, the very roots and core values of which we will not compromise. It is a standard and code of ethics we emphasize and practice daily.