Avvo lets users identify doctors by hospital affiliation

Avvo (www.avvo.com), the world's largest online directory for doctors and lawyers that provides free rankings for 90% of the working physicians in the U.S., continues to grow the number of service features offered on its medical website -- to bring doctors and patients the latest, breakthrough online directory tools. This month, Avvo unveils a new Hospital Sort capability that further enables users to hone in on the comprehensive information they need to make their physician search even more effective, and that also helps doctors and hospitals to more easily reach prospective patients.

Using Avvo's new Hospital Sort feature, users will now be able to search for any medical specialty field and filter by hospital to view the doctors that have privileges at that particular institution. Additionally, the new capability enables hospital administrators to target filtered search results to reinforce branding and reputational aspects of their institution to patients using the Hospital Sort feature.

Avvo, which launched its medical website in fall 2010, is a free service (for both doctors and their patients) that offers ratings and profiles (ranging from 1 for "extreme caution" to 10 for "superb") for 90% of licensed doctors in the U.S.  Delivering a sophisticated, responsible and market-leading ranking methodology which has become the de facto gold standard for collecting and managing online peer reviews, Avvo helps patients whether they are simply researching a medical issue or doctor, need personalized advice, or actually need to choose the right licensed professional.  Avvo profiles include the editorial Avvo Rating, as well as patient reviews, peer reviews and disciplinary records.  Avvo also offers a free Question and Answer forum, where patients can ask questions and receive certified answers from certified doctors.  Avvo Health Guides are free research tools, written as how-to articles by real doctors covering everyday healthcare issues.

"Our goal, since we launched our Avvo medical site last fall, has been to make physician search as reliable, seamless and comprehensive as possible -- for both patients and doctors," explained Mark Britton, Avvo's founder and CEO.  "The addition of our new Hospital Sort feature is just one more capability that makes our online resource the most robust tool of its kind in the industry.  We make it easier for patients to search for and find the right doctors to meet their varied needs -- and easier, in turn, for doctors to relationship build with these users. And now, we also provide hospitals, which represent an increasingly growing segment of the Avvo population, with the specific means to more effectively reach and market to prospective patients."

According to a 2010 survey of the nation's physicians conducted by Avvo, approximately 85% of participating doctors indicated that "the caliber of the hospital (with which a physician is affiliated) matters to prospective patients who are selecting a surgeon (or procedurialist) as it can make a difference in the amount and quality of support staff, technology, and equipment available."  Avvo listened to this and other specific feedback from its prospective constituents and responded by creating a suite of highly intuitive tools -- such as its new Hospital Sort feature -- to make physician search as fast and simple as possible, and to also supplement that search function with other valuable ancillary information not available through other services.  Now, patients looking for the right doctor can also evaluate the potential doctor's hospital relationships and make more informed selections with that additional perspective in mind.

For more information on the tools that Avvo provides for patients, physicians and hospital leaders to put doctor-patient relations at center stage in today's often confusing healthcare environment, please visit www.avvo.com.

About Avvo

Avvo is the largest and only free website that empowers consumers to handle their medical and legal matters with confidence.  Avvo offers free ratings and profiles for 90% of practicing lawyers and 90% of licensed MDs in the U.S. This includes the editorial Avvo Rating, patient and client reviews and peer endorsements as well as experience, background information, industry achievements and disciplinary records.  Avvo also offers a free Question and Answer forum, where consumers can ask questions and receive certified answers from certified doctors and lawyers.  Additionally, Avvo Legal Guides and Avvo Health Guides are free research tools, written as how-to articles covering everyday issues authored by certified lawyers and doctors. Founded in early 2006 and launched in 2007, Avvo is privately held, with funding from private investors, Benchmark Capital, Ignition Partners and DAG Ventures. For more information, visit www.avvo.com.