• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

YourCity.MD Rolls Out Fair and Constructive Doctor Rating/Patient Feedback System on Its 301 Local Healthcare Web Sites

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 November 2007, 09:01 CST

YourCity.MD LLC, with over 300 local, intuitive, relevant and physician-recommended healthcare Web sites across the U.S., today announced that it has rolled out its doctor rating and patient feedback system. These 300 city-specific healthcare networks with the .MD extension reach approximately 98 percent of the U.S. healthcare market. Aimed to address doctor concerns about unfair rating systems, YourCity.MD's (www.yourcity.MD) feedback process gives doctors a way to respond and work with patients to resolve any issues and improve the doctor/patient relationship.

"Our goal was to fix the process when it comes to doctor rating systems. When doctors themselves are part of the process of encouraging patients to give them feedback, you'll find that you get better and more actionable information that the doctors can use to truly improve the doctor/patient relationship and raise the level of his/her practice's performance," said Dr. Michael Barber, Chief Medical Officer at YourCity.MD. "Doctors can now ask patients to visit their local YourCity.MD site and provide feedback on everything from quality of care, staff and timeliness, to the cleanliness of the office."

"Our business was founded on the premise that healthcare is and should be local. Going to a national site to rate your community doctor is counter-intuitive, especially when you need that information on a local basis to make everyday healthcare decisions," said Joe Benza, CEO at YourCity.MD.

According to Dr. James Springer, DDS, a dentist participating on www.Cincinnati.MD, the YourCity.MD approach to the rating process makes a doctor feel more comfortable.

"The YourCity.MD process encourages patient feedback and ratings that are locally-based and relevant to my local practice, and we are given the ability to work with patients on any concerns. This is in stark contrast to the other systems that blindly post negative feedback that can unfairly taint a doctor's reputation. Plus, the ability to post positive feedback on my Cincinnati.MD Web listing really helped my business. I saw a dramatic increase in patient referrals and within six months of requesting patient feedback after every patient visit, I had to expand my practice to accommodate new patients."

YourCity.MD Doctor Rating and Feedback System -- How it Works:

After an office visit, patients are asked by their doctor to visit their local city .MD site, provide feedback on their experience at the office and with the doctor and staff. (There are over 300 local YourCity.MD websites, such as www.SanFrancisco.MD, www.NewYorkCity.MD, www.Chicago.MD and www.Cincinnati.MD, for a full listing see http://www.yourcity.md/yourcity/allcities.aspx)

Patients can give doctors a numerical rating on aspects of their visit, including timeliness, explanation of diagnosis, follow-up, effectiveness of treatment and staff in addition to text feedback.

Doctors receive both numerical ratings and text feedback. Ratings are posted automatically, but the text feedback is controlled by the doctor. He or she may either accept, reject or if negative, the doctor can select "followup" and ask the patient, confidentially, to contact them to resolve any issues and discuss their issues further.

Once the patient and doctor have talked about the patient concern, the doctor can quickly and automatically ask the patient to "re-rate" his or her performance with another one button click tool through the site.

About YourCity.MD

YourCity.MD LLC is the first and only digital media company to reach healthcare consumers and providers in the top 300+ U.S. markets covering 98 percent of the market with its city specific domain names with the .MD extension. Founded on the principle that healthcare is and should be local, YourCity.MD helps consumers access a healthcare network combining national reach with a local platform. Designed to also appeal to providers, YourCity.MD helps grow and improve one's medical practice through free productivity tools and a third party independent physician rating/patient feedback system that serves as a dependable source of referrals. For more information, visit www.YourCity.MD or type in your local city name with the new .MD TLD Internet extension.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category