Vitals.com - Good Doctor, Bad Doctor

Vitals.com is a recently launched site that aims to work as the centralized source of information on doctor performance, as per rating of its patients, colleagues and by displaying general information on her/his practice and specialties. The idea behind the site is to allow patients to make an informed decision on the person who is going to take care of their health, including information on malpractice and sanctions that might have been taken against him/her. Users also get to see information on their doctor’s educational background, whether they are board certified or not, and what is the grade awarded by the hospitals s/he works for. Interestingly, the site goes to great pains to explain in full detail what lots of the medical status terms mean, like ‘Board certified’, ‘Hospital affiliations’ and in general to explaining how doctor’s information is obtained, thus making it very trustworthy. Interestingly, the site can be searched by doctor’s name, physicians in an area, or using the ‘symptom checker’, which allows users to find a specialist based on the specific problem or pain they are dealing with.

“At some point in our lives, we all will need to go to the doctor. Perhaps for a mild problem, or perhaps for a serious one. The choice of which doctor to go to, and the performance of that doctor, can be a life-or-death decision.

Vitals was created to give consumers the tools -- for the first time -- to make intelligent, informed decisions about which doctor to choose.

Our web site offers you a variety of ways to help in your choice of the right doctor.

For physicians, it allows you to keep track of what others are saying, gives you the opportunity to let consumers know about your work, and lets you make sure your profile is complete and accurate”.

Having a new service like his one is just great news, as it will allow users to establish a more fluid and trust-based relationship with the professionals they choose to take care of their health. Also, the fact that psychological issues like bedside manner and years of experience are addressed make it particularly useful, as one tends to feel more comfortable with physicians that are not Dwarf Grumpy’s big brother.

A substantial drawback I found in this service is that not all physicians’ profiles have Medical Insurance information; this means that there are several profiles that don’t mention whether they are providers or authorized practitioners for any given insurance company. Although you can get this information by other means, it doesn’t make much sense to have a one-stop shop that lacks this data. Can they ask all their profiled doctors to include clear information on this point?