Anthem’s online feedback rates doctors

Patients will be able to weigh in on their doctors using a new online tool from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and developed by consumer rating firm Zagat. The Zagat Health Survey tool is now available to all those enrolled in Mason-based Anthem’s Lumenos consumer-driven health plans and will be available to all Greater Cincinnati members at the end of the first quarter of 2008.
Consumers will be able to review their doctor visits based on trust, communication, availability and environment and post additional comments. The survey and results will be available free to Anthem members through their health plan’s Web site.
For each physician in Anthem’s network, the online entry will display contact information, ratings on a 30-point scale for each of the four categories, and the percentage of members who recommend that physician.
“Anthem is helping to give consumers the ability to make informed decisions about selecting doctors based on other people’s experiences, in a format that is familiar, easy to understand and meaningful,’’ said Chuck Slater, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio.

Source: Kim Ashley, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Writer: David Holthaus