Web tool available to consumers to monitor doctors
A tool has become available for consumers to monitor their doctor’s for disciplinary actions, malpractice judgments, patient ratings and more. It is a new “watchdog” website with an email alert service at www.healthgrades.com. “Recent high-profile news stories underscore the need for patients to know more about their doctors,” said Sarah Loughran, HealthGrades' executive vice president. “If your doctor is sanctioned by his or her state medical board, has a substantial malpractice judgment or has received new training or expertise, you can know about it immediately through HealthGrades' Watchdog e-mail alert service. It's designed to give patients peace of mind.” Healthgrades maintains profiles on almost every practicing physician in the nation. The profiles contain information on each doctor’s medical training, board certification, patient-experience ratings, state and federal sanctions, malpractice judgments, procedure costs, hospital affiliations, the list goes on. The site has been well visited. More than four million people visited the site in January 2008 alone.
