Zagat Survey lets patients grade doctors

Long Island Business News, Apr 11, 2008 by Claude Solnik

What Zagat Survey did for restaurants it's now trying to do for physicians: letting patients rate doctors based on their experience through a deal with a major insurer.

Manhattan-based Zagat has created physician ratings for Indianapolis-based WellPoint, parent of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York. WellPoint customers in much of the nation have access to the ratings, while Empire customers don't. WellPoint is evaluating whether to out roll the system in New York.

WellPoint chief executive Angela F. Braly said the Zagat approach provides useful data and empowers patients, and lets her firm use "Zagat's methodology to benefit the health-care industry."

Braly said this helps WellPoint "harness the power of the nearly 35 million members in its health plan subsidiaries to share and learn from their experiences with their doctors."

Nina Zagat, co-founder and co-chair of Zagat Survey said her firm's "surveys put consumers in touch with the people they trust the most - other consumers.

"With this tool, WellPoint is helping to give consumers the power to make smart decisions about selecting doctors based on other people's experiences," Zagat said.

Zagat uses online surveys to let patients rate and comment on their experience with physicians, creating what WellPoint describes as a peer-to-peer network among health-care consumers. Ratings will only be posted on a scale of zero to four after 10 consumers provide information.

The Zagat survey lets patients grade doctors on trust, communication, availability and office environment, and provides a comments section.