Yes, it’s true.  This morning we entered a new era by launching a doctor ratings directory, medical Q&A forum and hundreds of Health Guides.  You can read the press release here.

Since we launched Avvo and our lawyer ratings directory in June of 2007, I have been asked probably 500 times (even on TV) when we are going to launch a doctor-focused directory.  I often wanted to blurt out “they’re on the way!” because doctors were always the profession we knew we would pursue next.  Why pursue doctors next?  Because, in the online marketing world, doctors look a lot like lawyers did before Avvo arrived.  Allow me to demonstrate:

• Consumers are lost: Consumers are lost when trying to find a doctor, let alone trying to understand the doctor’s background and reputation.  Because there are so few unbiased resources willing to truly help them (see below), many prospective patients spend more time researching vacations and car purchases than researching doctors.
• Most doctors are poor marketers: Sadly, marketing fundamentals are seldom taught in medical school.  As a consequence, few doctors understand the art or science of marketing – especially online marketing. Doctors still spend over $500 million dollars annually in the Yellow Pages (yes, the yellow pages). Q.E.D.
• The “pay-to-play” model is alive and well: Notwithstanding the consumer need for unbiased legal- and health-related information, the “pay-to-play”model continues to dominate the doctor-search business. Consumers are so tired of (but getting wiser to) the “recommended” doctor being the one who pays the most to advertise.
• No certified Q&A is available: While doctors address medical issues on some websites (e.g., LinkedIn), no one certifies whether a licensed physician is actually answering.  Moreover, no one marries those doctor answers with editorial, patient and peer ratings – all for free.

Just like lawyers in 2007, something needs to change with doctors in 2010.  And here’s how Avvo is doing it:

• We are launching with numerical ratings and profiles for 90% of all U.S. doctors. That is 800,000 doctors in all 50 states.  Pretty cool, huh?
  

• We are launching our medical Q&A forum in in all 50 states. Like lawyers, this will take some time to build-out, but it is pre-loaded with over 400 hundred questions and answers from certified doctors.  Due to the frequency of medical concerns, we expect our Q&A forum to grow at a faster rate than its legal counterpart, which already receives over 50,000 contributions per month.
  
• We are launching with over 400 Health Guides: Our initial health guides cover a variety of health issues for men, women, children and seniors.  Any certified doctor will be able to post as many of their own health guides as often as they wish.
  
• We have assembled a world-class board of medical advisors. From the former president of the American Medical Association, to a chief surgeon at the University of Washington, to two truly entrepreneurial doctors who run their own elective clinics on the east and west coasts, we have the cream of the crop working with us to help our doctor product be all that it can be.  You can see their bios on the Avvo Team page and hear from one in this video.

I really can’t be more excited about this new chapter in Avvo’s development.  In a way, this journey began with travel agents and Expedia, where a large part of the earliest Avvo team hails from.  In the 90’s, we saw the consumer need for better-informed travel decisions.  We then applied much of that thinking to lawyers, helping consumers make better-informed legal decisions, particular around choosing the right lawyer.  And now it is time to tackle another confusing area for consumers, the medical profession and choosing the right doctor.  What a great journey it has been and will continue to be.

A couple of things regarding our doctor launch:

• First, this is a beta release, meaning we are still smoothing off some of the rough edges.  Our lawyer product stayed in beta for five months, and we can probably expect the same for doctors.  If you see something that is buggy or doesn’t make sense, please let us know.
• Due to the beta nature of our doctor ratings directory, we will only have misconduct information for roughly 50% of the U.S. doctors.  We should have roughly 90% by Q1 2011; but, like bar associations, state medical boards do not always have the systems to get us information as quickly as we would like.  For those doctors where misconduct information is pending, they will have a “provisional” rating with clear disclosure to that effect.
  
• This launch does not include osteopaths, unless they are certified by The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).  We are launching with only MDs, but we do hope to have DOs on Avvo soon.

By way of closing, I cannot give bigger kudos to the entire Avvo team.  They killed themselves to get our doctor product out the door and it is beautiful.  And they did this while still taking great care of our lawyer product and our thousands of lawyer advertisers.  Thank you Team Avvo – every day I simply sit back and marvel at your ingenuity, your nimbleness and the pride you take in our business.  I am so lucky to work with you.

Paging all doctors – Be Rated!

Mark

P.S.  As part of our medical launch, we are also launching the NakedHealth Blog – the counterpart to our (almost) famous NakedLaw Blog.  If you haven’t already, RSS or bookmark them – they are a great read.

P.P.S. If you want to learn more about How To Claim Your Free Avvo Profile, we’ve created this short video. We’re also hosting free webinars for doctors and marketers over the next three weeks to provide an overview and answer any questions. Check out the schedule!