USA Today launched a web feature May 14 providing consumers with a searchable database of the nation’s most influential doctors (MID).
The MID analytics are culled from Wolters Kluwer Health data and compiled by analytics firm Qforma, allowing consumers to identify up to seven local doctors associated with one of four conditions: asthma, diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension.
Doctors’ names, addresses and practicing status are reviewed for accuracy by marketing research firm SK&A. The database is provided gratis to USA Today, according to a spokesperson for Qforma MID.
Located at www.influentialdoctors.usatoday.com, the MID database “provides new insight into the respected local physicians who care for our readers, using methodology that goes beyond traditional best-doctor rankings,” said Susan Weiss, managing editor for the Life section at USA Today, in a statement.
Doctors are deemed worthy of “most influential” status based on data points including “where they live, what meetings they attend, who they socialize with, what drugs they prescribe, their group practice information, hospital affiliations, leadership positions in professional associations, volume of patients and participation in managed care,” according to a spokesperson.
About 30% of all doctors nationwide qualify as MIDs, although the database displays on average three to five doctors (roughly 6,000 in total) for each condition in each of the 350 metropolitan areas, according to a USA Today report.
