This morning on CNN, Dr. Gupta, did a story on rating doctors and hospitals. I think this is a great idea. In the past, I have always used BCBS since that is our insurance carrier or word of mouth. Even living in such a large area as DFW, it is still hard to find the doctor for you and your needs. We don’t have a shortage by any means but, with BCBS anyway, you don’t get a lot of good information about the doctors.
I found several doctor rating websites and these are the ones that I have checked out; Health Grades, Physician Reports and RateMDs.com. All three of these are free. This is what I found on each site:
Health Grades – When you do a search on a doctor, you wind up with a report that shows;
- Introduction – Patient/Medical Philosophy, Personal Facts, Website (if any), If the physician provides access to a nurse
- Experience/Training – Specialties,
- Disciplinary Actions – It will show a report if any as far back as 5 years ago, through the Office of Inspector General and 50 state medical boards.
- Patient Experience – Here you can rate your doctor and/or see what others have rated and the national average.
- Affiliated Hospitals
Physician Reports – Once you search you doctor the reports go back to the Health Grades reports. This one was a waist of time.
RateMDs.com – On this one I did not find a lot of the doctors that I was looking for. However, you have the ability to add a doctor and rate them. I did find one doctor that I took my child to one time and I would not take my pet rock to this guy, I did rate him and voice my opinions.
There are many of services like this out on the internet, these are just the ones that I have gone to. By far my first choice would be Health Grades and then RateMDs.com. With doctors these days being so specialized, this is a good way to find a doctor for your needs, especially if you have multiple health issues. There are a lot of good and knowledgeable doctors out there but, not are all created equal.
Please, let me know what you find and links that you use.
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10 comments:
I think rating hospitals is a great idea.
In Los Angeles County, in CA, there is a 'rating system' applied to every restaurant in the county.
I would rather see that on the hospitals. I don't get to them as often and I can't tell what happens there.
As for the restaurant, I can usually tell if they are clean or not and the rating system doesn't always reflect the store - once there was a restaurant which got inspected right after someone trashed their bathroom and they got a bad mark for the next time period. This is a great place and I knew they were clean.
I can't tell about a hospital, though when the dust bunnies are mating, I gotta wonder...
Pam Hoffman
http://seminarlist.blogspot.com
Pam ~
We do need something and why should medical be any less health than restaurants?
I am doing a follow up to this post but, I have been swamped and have not had a chance to post it yet. I should get it posted sometime this weekend.
Thanks for stopping by =)
Ok, so this might be out of point but, House! I love House M.D.
min-tea
That is ok =) I love House, too. I record it every season. I can't wait for the new ones to start.
Thanks for the heads up. I know a lot of folks want to stick it to bad docs, but doctors who are out there who are doing a really great job deserve to be recognized. I rated a few!
HoundsGood ~ I agree. While researching this post, I rated all of my doctors the good one and the bad. Thanks for stopping by =)
Mandy,
I looked myself up on Health Grades and only found basic info. They gave me the option to give more info about myself, so I have an email into them. But you have to pay for the good stuff.
The other sites seem to be rating sites. I was surprised to see so many positive comments on my local colleagues, as people are usually more inclined to complain than to praise. We do have a rather solid medical community in Toledo. I don't know how reliable a site like this would be, unless there are a lot of consistent reports.
Finally, about House. Can't stand him. There was a poll of doctors in Medical Economics this month on how well we like medical TV shows. We hated House the most. And the son of a bitch dared to show up on my last blog page. Bastard!
Nice post!
Take good care!
Ferd.
Ferd ~ Thanks for the info. I always praise as much as I complain...well, most of the time.
I don't like House either but, I do like the show and Hugh Laurie. I can understand why doctors would not like him.
Thanks for the comment.
What is your view on "medical googlers"?
ratings doctors is a good idea, though that is not all one should use to chose a doctor. I use MyDocHub.com for my doctor ratings and reviews and I like the clean look it has.
Anonymous ~ Thanks for the link, I will try it out.
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