Access to healthcare and factual health information is SO important today and I think Local Guides can play an important role for the public without getting in the way of the “experts” in the government and medical field. Yes, even for those of us whose edits/additions don’t get published right away.
Separate from large reputable hospitals, there are tons of duplicate and/or erroneous unmanaged Google Maps listings for clinics, medical offices, doctors, medical groups, etc. that shouldn’t interfere with people’s ability to find actual facilities for the care that they need.
We can all do this as Local Guides when we go see a doctor ourselves during the next few weeks, hopefully not months. Instead of just navigating to the address, see what listings are that location (as long as it’s fairly small) and edit the ones that have mistakes and close out the ones that shouldn’t be there in the first place.
For example, I mapped an address in my area for a clinic that is now offering COVID-19 testing. 5 additional bogus listings were at that location (incompleteness, defunct practices listed as doctors, doctor who doesn’t work there anymore, non-doctors listed as doctors, etc.), not including missing hours for the actual clinic.
EXAMPLE: If a medical facility’s listing isn’t categorized correctly, it won’t display important alerts such as this one. It’s rare, but I have sometimes seen Corporate Office as the primary category for doctor offices/facilities. These special warnings would (do) not show up on those listings. Health Consultant is not a qualifying category either.
I’m just saying… WE (you too) can be a positive force while we live irregularly during the next few [insert duration] and interact with our local healthcare systems. Cleaning the map right now will be for the betterment of our communities (undisputable).
#LocalGuides #DoOurPart
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