Each July U.S. News & World Report publishes its Best Hospital rankings. U.S. News routinely makes changes to their methodology to improve the validity of results, which utilize both objective quality data and physician opinion surveys. Following methodology changes in how hospitals’ reputational scores are gathered, U.S. News has expanded its collaboration with Doximity, the professional network for physicians, to assist with both mailed and online reputational surveys for this year’s rankings. You can read the full update from U.S. News online.
Physicians who register and are verified on Doximity before December 5, 2014, are guaranteed an opportunity to participate if they are board certified in one of the surveyed specialties. Those who are not Doximity members will be candidates to receive mailed surveys. Both the online and mail surveys will be sent in early 2015.
If you are inclined to participate in Doximity or would like to review your online profile for accuracy, you might consider taking action by Dec. 5, to be eligible for U.S. News survey participation. Doximity now includes nearly half of all U.S. physicians as members and includes services such as eFax and CME offerings.
Respondents to a recent survey of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni who are Doximity members report the site is valuable in its effectiveness as a social networking tool to keep or renew friendships over time and distance.