Business Journal: New Website Grades Health Industry


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(Sacramento, CA)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Shopping for a doctor? You could try Angie’s List. The popular online site grades local service contractors and is now expanding its ratings to the medical community. The data is subjective. People report on personal experience with local doctors, dentists, nursing homes, hospitals and insurance companies. The service operates on the notion that word-of-mouth from friends, family and neighbors is a good way to pick a doctor. The site makes money on membership fees. Only members can view reports and submit ratings on companies they have actually hired. The staff reads reports before posting to catch any problems. Indianapolis-based Angie’s List started as a phone service in 1995. It moved online in 1999. Now it has more than 650,000 members in 120 cities. Sacramento data debuted on March 24.