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By KRIS HUNDLEY
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 8, 2001
Subscribers to Angie's List, an 18-month old Clearwater consumer referral service, routinely call for recommendations for decent plumbers, painters and car mechanics in the Tampa Bay area.
Now physicians are being added to the mix.
Angie's List, which charges members $37 a year, has joined with Quality Partners Inc., a Tampa consulting company, to identify local doctors who have good customer service as well as strong clinical programs.
Dr. Ira Mandel, president of Quality Partners, charges doctors $200 to survey patients on customer service: how long they waited for an appointment, how they were treated by the staff and how well the doctor communicated with them.
So far, about 30 doctors have signed up for Mandel's surveys; those who rank in the top one-fourth are designated Quality Stars on Angie's List. Doctors who rate lower are named Quality Partners if they can show they're trying to improve some area of their practice.
Dave Hackett, market manager for Angie's List, said the company's 4,000 local members have shown an interest in physician referrals. But he hopes people also will use other resources, such as the state Department of Health's free Web site (http://www.doh.state.fl.us), to check out doctors.
"This is just a tool for people to educate themselves," he said. "I don't want to pass this off as a panacea."
Before members get too excited about the highly rated doctors on Angie's List, they'll want to know two other important pieces of information:
Are they on my HMO and are they taking new patients?