About Healthgrades Physicians

Healthgrades is an online health-care provider ratings directory that allows doctors to create a profile page and display ratings from patients and the Healthgrades ratings board. This profile contains information about the doctors' practice, procedures and procedure costs. Healthgrades can be used as a marketing tool by doctors, and as a research tool by patients.

Significance

• Healthgrades is a robust health-care portal that allows doctors to share patient ratings with prospective patients. Healthgrades also conducts detailed background checks on every doctor, and these reports are available for purchase directly from the Healthgrades site. Patients can search for their doctor by specialty, state and ZIP code to find and compare physicians in their area.

Benefits

• The Healthgrades website offers benefits for physicians and patients. Physicians have the opportunity to share key details about their practice, specialty and procedures for patients looking for a qualified doctor in their area. They can also be compared to similar physicians in their area, and share patient ratings about their services. Patients have the opportunity to review all of this information in detail, compare various doctors in a specific specialty and area, and make a more informed choice about where to receive treatment. Purchasing the comprehensive Physician Quality Report makes it easier to learn more about a doctor's background.

Features

• Every doctor's profile page contains tabs with specific information about his practice, hospital affiliations, procedures and average costs. Each profile page consists of the physician's contact information, including name, address and driving directions; patient ratings; background check options; group practice information; affiliations; procedure costs; and the option to purchase a Physician Quality Report. The Physician Quality Report contains information about the physician's education and training, any disciplinary actions on record, all specialty certifications and hospital ratings.

Function

• Physicians who achieve the HealthGrades Five-Star Doctor status are affiliated with hospitals that are highly rated by Healthgrades and meet other qualifications. This recognition and designation can help some patients choose one doctor over another when comparing different physicians in their area and specialty. A doctor can only achieve the Five-Star status by being board-certified in her specialty and practice; being free of state and federal disciplinary actions; being free of malpractice claims; and never having her license restricted or revoked.

Considerations

• The Healthgrades Connecting Point platform is designed to help physicians attract new patients. This tool is used to update the physician's profile and ensure that all details about the practice, specialty and procedure costs are up-to-date and share their patient care philosophy. All doctors also receive their own complimentary Premium Physician report upon completing their expanded profile. An expanded profile encourages consumers to select and make appointments with that doctor, and also helps educate and inform patients about services that the doctor provides.