WellPoint, Inc., the nation's largest health benefits company, announced Tuesday that it will soon have a new system for consumers to rate their overall experience with their doctor and share it with other Wellpoint members online.
According to WellPoint spokeswoman Jill Becher, the system will only be used to convey a patient's overall experience with a doctor's office and will not judge a doctor's medical competency. It's designed to be a peer-to-peer tool to complement WellPoint's doctor directory.
The new survey tool will enable members to review their physicians on trust, communication, availability and environment and will feature a comments section, allowing members to expand on their ratings, Becher said.
The system will not be used in any way to measure a doctor's expertise and experience and will in no way be tied to reimbursement levels, according to Becher. Doctors participating in WellPoint will see no ramifications should they get a bad review from WellPoint patients.
"We understand that providers would want to see the results and we will share those with them," she said.
To review its doctors, WellPoint will be using a healthcare product created by a popular consumer rating system company, Zagat. Partnering with Zagat, a recognizable company for reviews on where to eat, drink, stay and play, will help to promote the use of the product, Becher said.
WellPoint plans to launch the rating system among its some 35,000 members using Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield subsidiaries in metropolitan Los Angeles, Connecticut and greater Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio markets. The tool will be made available to all members in the target locations at the end of the first quarter of 2008, Becher said. The survey tool is now available to members in cities enrolled in the company's Blue Lumenos consumer driven health plans.
"Through our partnership with Zagat, WellPoint is helping address an unmet need for peer-to-peer interaction among health care consumers," said Jason Gorevic, WellPointís chief marketing and product officer. "Zagat is widely known and trusted for its ability to help people share and learn from other consumer experiences. Zagat is an ideal partner to not only create a trusted resource for consumers, but also to actively engage consumers in sharing and utilizing that information."
"WellPoint is committed to providing members in its health plan subsidiaries with the data and tools necessary to help them take a more active role in their health care decision making," Gorevic said.