In 2003, there where more than 890 million doctor visits in the U.S. according to the (CDC) Center for Diseases Control and Prevention. "More now than ever consumers are not only researching their doctor, but are also demanding the highest quality of health care" says Hugo Gallegos, President of MDNationwide.org.
Check Doctor Credentials:
Doctor information (reports) such as check doctor credentials, medical doctor ratings, doctor background checks, and check surgeon quality, just a few years ago scarcely existed. Most doctor credential information pertaining to disciplinary actions and so on, where kept on the hush side.
Now, all that has changed, consumers understand that experience varies from doctor to doctor. With more companies offering doctor credential information consumers are spending more time researching their doctors.
A doctor background check can be accomplished in a variety of ways depending what the consumers wants. Example: If a consumer wants to find out if his or her doctor has ever had disciplinary actions issued against them, the Federation of State Medical Boards (excluding National Practitioner Data Bank) has more doctor disciplinary report information than any other establishment in America, and the cost is $9.95 per report.
Pros:
1. They are the undisputed heavyweights of doctor background checks for disciplinary actions.
Cons:
1. They only specialize in disciplinary doctor reports.
If consumers want to view medical doctor ratings on particular doctors, their are different choices available. It is not clear what their methodology is based on, however, a popular choice seems to be Health Grades Inc. They have a wide selection of doctors nationwide to choose from, however with such an enormous database, you might want to double check your info for accuracy.
Pros:
1. A huge medical doctor ratings database, bigger selection of doctors
Cons:
1. Methodologies are not clear
2. Database is so big that keeping updated information is nearly impossible.
For consumers who prefer only a top specialist based on extensive surveys performed, there are three well-known establishments claim they have the best doctors in America. Each one has their own methodology in place, some more extensive than others. They are http://www.mdnationwide.org, with more than 3,000 of the best doctors in America, the Best Doctors establishment with more than 30,000 best doctors in America, and the Castle Connolly establishment with more than 4,500 best doctors in America.