Site Scoring Physicians Based on Resumes

Physicians, prepare to be rated - again. Yet another site has taken on scoring physicians, this one based on their resumes.

The site, avvo.com, is a professional directory of more than 1 million lawyers, and has just expanded to include doctors, according to American Medical News. The scores range from 1 to 10 and are based on their resumes, online endorsements, data doctors can add to their profiles, and public information.

“A doctor’s score is a sort of proxy for what another physician or medical expert might say after looking at a given physician’s resume,” according to the article. The score takes into account where a physician went to medical school and whether she is board certified and has good references.

Attempts to size up physicians are nothing new, and many payers are profiling physicians based on their measures of cost-efficiency and quality. Then there are the multitudes of sites for patients to rate and comment on their experiences.

For this latest scoring site, developers called the system “sophisticated” and “responsible, but some physicians said it was possible to game their scores by adding positive endorsements. The site doesn’t verify information other physicians enter about themselves.

Meanwhile, the federal government is preparing plans for a physician rating site based in part on patient satisfaction surveys, among other metrics. Physician Compare, modeled after CMS’ Hospital Compare site, is set to launch by Jan. 1 with mostly directory information, and later will post information on quality, performance, and patient experience.

The idea is that the site will provide a central point for patients to find relevant information to help them select a physician. And not surprisingly, physicians have expressed concern that any site use valid and responsible reporting metrics.

Physician rating and comparison sites aren’t going away and will likely continue to proliferate, whether they are developed by the government or private industry.

What do you think of these attempts to score physicians? How do you - or do you - manage your profile and ranking online?