**Note: UCompareHealthCare has closed and the site has been taken down since this article was published.**
UCompareHealthCare (UCHC) is a healthcare-specific review site. Unlike most physician review sites, however, UCompareHealthCare goes an extra step and offers free doctor comparison reports, making it easier for patients to compare local physicians to find the doctor that best fits their needs.
The Basics
Can practices have a listing, or is the site just for physicians? Listings are for individual physicians, although they can show hospital associations on their profiles.
Can physicians set up their own profiles? UCHC compiles data for physicians from several independent sources, including both federal and state governments and third-party sources. In most cases, a physician will be listed and can claim his or her profile or request to be included.
Are patients required to create an account to leave a review? No, patients do not need to create an account to leave a review.
Is there a cost for physicians / patients to use this site? The site is free for patients to use. Physicians can update their basic profiles for free, and additional services are available at a cost.
How the Rating System Works
Ratings are based on a 5-star system. Patients are asked to provide an overall rating for the doctor, which is required. Additionally, they can opt to provide information about a number of different areas. Patients are able, but not required, to answer whether they would recommend the doctor. They can also provide an approximate wait time. Patients are also asked to give a 1-5 star rating on the following statements, with 1 star meaning “Strongly Disagree” and 5 stars meaning “Strongly Agree”:
- It was easy to get an appointment.
- The wait time was short during my visit.
- The staff was professional and friendly.
- My problem was accurately diagnosed.
- The doctor spent enough time with me.
- There was appropriate follow up after my visit.
Patients are also able to provide comments to further elaborate on each answer. There is also a section at the end of the survey where patients can provide a headline for the review, positive comments, negative comments, and general comments.
Patients are able to look at individual doctor profiles and create a free report to compare local physicians. These reports include patient reviews and data collected from the Office of Inspector General and state medical boards. This data might include license revocations, claims of fraud or kickbacks, or criminal convictions.
How Physicians Can Use the Site
Physicians can update their profiles for free. However, UCHC will eliminate a record if they cannot verify all of the details for accuracy. If a physician is not listed on the site, he or she can email UCHC and request to be included. In this case, physicians will need to supply an up to date CV.
Beyond free profile updates, there is also a paid option for physicians. UCHC does not provide much information on what upgrading a profile entails, but it is clear that the paid option relates to marketing on the UCHC website, and that they have method to report return on investment.
Handling False Reviews
Physicians cannot respond to reviews on UCHC. UCHC does not really address what they do about reviews that appear to be fraudulent. However, in their terms of use, they state that users are liable for any reviews that are false, intentionally misleading, or defamatory.
Popularity in Search Results
We looked at a few different metrics to determine UCompareHealthCare’s popularity in search results. First, we looked at the Alexa Score. The Alexa Score is a ranking of the most popular and highly-visited websites, based on the amount of traffic the site has. According to the Alexa marketing service, UCompareHealthCare is the 9291st most popular website in the United States.
Next, we looked to Moz, an SEO software service, to determine the root domains linking to Insider Pages. This number tells us how many other websites are linking to UCompareHealthCare. According to Moz, 1,728 other sites are linking to UCompareHealthCare.
Finally, we turned to another SEMRush, another SEO tool, to get an estimate of the monthly organic traffic to the site. According to SEMRush, UCompareHealthCare has about 159,000 organic visits per month. This number only includes visitors who found UCompareHealthCare organically and does not include visits from paid search and advertising.
As the P3 Marketing Manager, Ashley ensures that our clients’ marketing strategies are put into action. This includes content writing, SEO, online advertising, analytics, and interfacing with the tools, systems, and team members needed to help our medical practice clients accomplish their marketing goals.
Scott Zeitzer
Scott has been in the healthcare industry for his entire adult life. Prior to launching P3, he earned a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering and spent 10 years selling medical devices (total hips, total knees, trauma devices, and CMF devices) to orthopedists and neurosurgeons.
