FTC & State AG

How Was Your Visit? The FTC’s Latest Lesson About Soliciting & Disclosing Consumer Feedback

Published: Jun. 09, 2016

Updated: Oct. 05, 2020

In a settlement with Practice Fusion, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged that the electronic health records provider tricked consumers into believing they were providing feedback to their doctors when in fact, the company populated its online provider directory with the reviews.

The complaint alleged that Practice Fusion emailed “How was your visit” surveys to patients following doctors’ visits and requested the patients rate and submit comments about their providers. The surveys indicated they were sent on behalf of specific physicians and did not inform patients the reviews would be made public. An option to keep the review anonymous only resulted in it being posted under an “anonymous” handle but did not remove any identifying or sensitive health information from the comments box. The survey contained a link to Practice Fusion’s patient authorization terms, which stated that the company could publish the review. Users had to click they agreed to the authorization but did not have to open or read it in order to accept the terms. The FTC alleged that, given all the facts, this disclosure was not adequate. After a year of accumulating responses, the company launched its provider directory with over 600,000 patient reviews, some of which included consumers’ names, phone numbers, and sensitive health information such as medical conditions, procedures, medications, and questions to physicians.

Under the settlement, Patient Fusion has to clearly inform individuals, separate from a privacy policy or terms, if it plans to publicize patient information and obtain affirmative consent to do so. The case serves as a reminder to inform customers in advance and in a meaningful way how you will use their information, particularly if you plan to publicize or use sensitive information.