240,000 entries in the AOK online doctor comparison

The online doctor comparison of AOK, BARMER GEK, TK and Weisse Liste counts more and more reviews and members

08/06/2012

The doctors' assessment portal has been operated online by the health insurance companies Barmer GEK, Techniker-Krankenkasse and AOK for over a year. To date, active patients have made about 240,000 physician reviews, as a spokesman for the joint project said Monday. Comparing the review portals of physicians, the AOK medical navigator achieved the best results.

More and more insured evaluate doctors
More and more legally insured, I participate in the project doctor navigator and evaluate their home or specialist. The project, which is supported by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the umbrella organizations of major consumer and patient organizations, has been in existence for more than a year and is gaining in popularity. Jens Baar, chairman of the Techniker-Kasse, called for participation in the online rating portal. "We encourage insured people to continue to actively participate, and their voice helps other patients find a suitable doctor," says Baas.

Top marks for doctor navigator
Was the online doctor comparison in the planning phase, especially by the medical profession violently controversial, so the wind has settled over time something. For a survey of the Medical Center for Quality (ÄZQ) had already in 2011 hardly complaints and evaluated the AOK doctor navigator almost entirely positive. „85 percent of the criteria set by the medical profession are met“, was the conclusion of the report. At the time, the analysis was commissioned by the German Medical Association and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians. In addition to the doctor navigator, eleven more doctor evaluation portals were tested. The Navigator was able to prevail in all issues and reached among all offers the first place.

In a further analysis, three further doctor rating portals were able to achieve more than 80 percent of the guidelines of the quality institute. Belonged to them „Physician Information“, „imedo“ and „jameda“.

It shows that „the medical profession confirms the AOK doctor navigator a high quality standard ", said the chairman of the board of the AOK federal federation, Jürgen Graalmann.The high participation shows however also that „The insured persons are not afraid to give the attending physicians a feedback“.

However, from the point of view of the ÄZQ, there are still some points that need to be improved. Thus, according to the experts, above all the criteria for the topicality of the physician entries and for information on the possibility of objecting to the inclusion in the list of doctors should still be in need of improvement. In addition, blind people should also have access. This could be made possible by barrier-free access to the portal, according to the medical quality institute.

Free of advertising and purchased entries
Unlike other portals, the AOK Doctor Navigator is free of advertising. In addition, doctors can not buy better positioning. In order to prevent false claims and manipulations, each user must first register. In addition, a doctor must receive at least ten reviews from different users until the entry is unlocked. „The portal provides orientation for patients under fair conditions for physicians“, explained Dr. Stefan Etgeton, health expert at the Bertelsmann Foundation. „Right from the start, we aspired to establish a portal of new quality: with a scientifically founded questionnaire and effective protection against manipulation“, complete Dr. Ilona Köster-Steinebach, Consultant for Quality and Transparency in Health Care at the Association of Consumer Organizations.

However, the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung warned against overestimating such portals in the choice of the physician. A survey among health insurance has shown that only ten percent of patients use portals for the „right doctor“ select. This position was contradicted by the Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of BARMER GEK. Rolf-Ulrich Schlenker. In his view, the online doctor comparison „enforce in the medium term“. It will take a while until all doctors are registered, but „Seriousness has priority“, stressed Schlenker. Recently, dentists can also be rated online. (Sb)

Read about:
Doctor navigator: rate and search physicians online
Doctor Navigator: Doctors rate on the internet
AOK plans censorship for doctors
Online evaluation of doctors
Evaluation portal for hospitals started
Online evaluation of doctors

The web addresses of the doctors review portals:
"White List "of the Bertelsmann Foundation: www.weisse-liste.de/arzt
Barmer GEK medical navigator: arztnavi-barmer-gek.de
Medical Leader of Techniker Krankenkasse: www.tk.de/aerztefuehrer
AOK doctor navigator: www.aok-arztnavi.de