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Frequently Asked Questions
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| 1. Why was iCheckup® created? | | 2. How is iCheckup® different from the other health care rating portals? | | 3. What is iCheckup®? | | 4. From where does iCheckup® obtain information? | | 5. How does iCheckup® help the community? | | 6. What countries does iCheckup® cover? | | 7. How does iCheckup® ensure authenticity of information? | | 8. Do I need to create an account to use the iCheckup® system? | | 9. What health care providers participate in the iCheckup® system? | | 10. What are "Featured Providers"? | | 11. Does iCheckup® edit the testimonials that are entered? | | 12. How do I provide feedback on iCheckup®? | | 13. What are RealRatings™ and TrueRatings™ | | 14. Does iCheckup® provide franchise, affiliate or partnering opportunities? | | 15. How can I advertise my products/services on iCheckup®? |
| | 1. Why was iCheckup® created? | | The iCheckup® network of health care ratings and review sites was created to help improve the patient-provider relationship. Through our proprietary systems and on-line patient evaluations, iCheckup® collects information regarding the quality of service offered by health care providers. Patients may review this information to help them choose which health care providers will best fulfill their needs. Health care providers may also review this information to help them determine when and where the services they deliver do not meet the expectations of their patients so that they may do a better job delivering high quality care in the future. | | Top of Page | | 2. How is iCheckup® different from the other health care rating portals? | | iCheckup® is the first company to both solicit comments about health care providers and simultaneously seek to engage health care providers in a dialogue with their patients. | | Top of Page | | 3. What is iCheckup®? | | The website at iCheckup.com is a portal to a network of specialty health care sites. The iCheckup® network is designed to help enhance the relationship between consumers and health care providers. iCheckup® is not "just" a ratings website. Unlike other ratings sites, iCheckup® encourages a dialogue between health care providers and their patients. We believe that an open dialogue can help patients achieve optimal satisfaction and can help health care providers provide optimal services. | | Top of Page | | 4. From where does iCheckup® obtain information? | | iCheckup® obtains information and data from a wide variety of sources both public and private. These include: medical boards from all 50 states, federal websites, hospitals, doctors, surveys, business alliances and third party affiliates. | | Top of Page | | 5. How does iCheckup® help the community? | | Through our on-line system, off-line processes, and patent-pending technology, iCheckup® provides free tools to the community for the purpose of enhancing the relationship between patients and health care providers. iCheckup® encourages honest evaluations and constructive critiques. The system provides a platform whereby patients can provide both accolades and criticism regarding their health care providers. Patients may engage in dialogue about different providers, a medical condition, and medical procedures. Health care providers have access to tools and content that enable them to communicate with their patients more efficiently and effectively. For example, health care practitioners can share their thoughts and views on a variety of medical topics with the community. | | Top of Page | | 6. What countries does iCheckup® cover? | | The iCheckup® website and portal has been created specifically to cover health care practitioners licensed within the United States and its territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. | | Top of Page | | 7. How does iCheckup® ensure authenticity of information? | | Utilizing a combination of public and proprietary tools and processes, iCheckup® seeks to ensure that all information presented is authentic, factual and fairly presented. Additionally, iCheckup® is the only site to offer PowerRatings®, a patent-pending process that utilizes proprietary algorithms to help consumers determine if ratings posted by other users are valid. | | Top of Page | | 8. Do I need to create an account to use the iCheckup® system? | | In order to take advantage of the special services provided by iCheckup®, it is necessary to create an account. Consumers are able to store data about selected health care providers and share their findings with friends and family. Health care providers obtain access to a variety of on-line tools which enhance the patient - provider relationship. Registration and account creation are free. Premium services are available for a fee. | | Top of Page | | 9. What health care providers participate in the iCheckup® system? | | All health care practitioners licensed as medical professionals in the United States and its territories may participate in the iCheckup® system. | | Top of Page | | 10. What are "Featured Providers"? | | Featured Providers have obtained a PowerRating® demonstrating that the majority of their treated patients are very pleased with the care provided. Featured Providers must request placement as a featured provider, pay an administrative fee and maintain a sufficient PowerRating® as determined by iCheckup®. | | Top of Page | | 11. Does iCheckup® edit the testimonials that are entered? | | iCheckup® does not actively monitor testimonials. However, upon receipt of a complaint, iCheckup® reserves the right to edit or remove any posted comment. This includes any comments which may be deemed offensive, malicious, inappropriate, sexually explicit in nature, contain typographic errors, or not made in good faith. Health care providers who choose to display iCheckup® testimonials may also participate in the editorial process. | | Top of Page | | 12. How do I provide feedback on iCheckup®? | | We appreciate your feedback. Click on the "Contact Us" tab and use the provided contact form to leave us your comments, questions, compliments, and requests. If you find that the website is not functioning as you expect, or if you have an urgent concern, you may either call us or use the "Report a Concern" link at the bottom left of the screen. | | Top of Page | | 13. What are RealRatings™ and TrueRatings™ | | iCheckup® is proud to offer everyone the opportunity to read about selected specialists using our patent pending technology that validates the legitimacy of ratings data. We provide this validated data using input from various sources. Currently RealRatings™ and TrueRatings™ use the same data sources, but this is subject to change in the future. We will keep you updated on our exciting developments as they occur. | | Top of Page | | 14. Does iCheckup® provide franchise, affiliate or partnering opportunities? | | Please click on the "Contact Us" tab to inquire about the opportunity to work with iCheckup®. | | Top of Page | | 15. How can I advertise my products/services on iCheckup®? | | Please click on the "Contact Us" tab to inquire about the opportunity to work with iCheckup®. | | Top of Page |
| 1. How do patients benefit from the iCheckup® system? | | 2. How can I share the information I found about a doctor? | | 3. How often can I rate my health care provider? | | 4. Why is it that I do not see a testimonial that I have given a physician? | | 5. I don't see a procedure listed. What should I do to give feedback about this procedure? | | 6. What do I do if I am unable to locate the health care provider I want to rate? |
| | 1. How do patients benefit from the iCheckup® system? | | A prospective patient can identify the local/regional health care providers specializing in the condition or procedure in which they are interested. After interacting with their health care provider, a patient can provide recommendations about their provider so that other prospective patients can learn about their experience. In this way, future prospective patients are further educated about the procedures and quality of service offered by the chosen health care provider. | | Top of Page | | 2. How can I share the information I found about a doctor? | | As a registered member, you can use the iCheckup® notification system to send a link about any health care provider to your friends and family. | | Top of Page | | 3. How often can I rate my health care provider? | | Patients may provide feedback about their health care provider following each encounter that they have with their health care provider. | | Top of Page | | 4. Why is it that I do not see a testimonial that I have given a physician? | | Prospective patients desire to read quality reviews about health care providers where other patients have had significant interactions with the provider. We discourage patients from using the iCheckup® system as a place to vent frustrations about the health care system or to defame a provider. Comments are subject to removal if deemed offensive, inflammatory, libelous, slanderous, malicious, inappropriate, sexually explicit, or not made in good faith. Comments left by anonymous users or duplicate comments by the same user are subject to greater scrutiny and potential removal to prevent spam. | | Top of Page | | 5. I don't see a procedure listed. What should I do to give feedback about this procedure? | | Simply select the "Other" procedure from the list and you will be given the opportunity to enter the name of the procedure. | | Top of Page | | 6. What do I do if I am unable to locate the health care provider I want to rate? | | It is possible that you could not find your doctor or other health care provider in a search because the criteria you entered is too narrow. In this case, you may wish to broaden your search. While we strive to report on every licensed health care provider in the U.S. and its territories, there may be occasional individuals who are not listed. Some reasons include: (1) If a provider has recently moved they may not yet be noted as a practicing in the new state; (2) If a provider has recently changed their name that new name might not yet be registered; (3) If a provider is practicing overseas we may have removed them from our database; (4) If a provider has recently become licensed, they may not yet show up in our records; (5) If a provider has requested not to be listed in our database, we may optionally choose to remove their listing. | | Top of Page |
| 1. How does iCheckup® compare to other patient satisfaction surveys? | | 2. Why is it important to obtain patient feedback? | | 3. What does the iCheckup® survey include? | | 4. How do I use the iCheckup® survey information? | | 5. How do I tell patients about the survey? | | 6. Can iCheckup® help prevent malpractice suits? | | 7. What happens with comments that patients enter in the survey? | | 8. What about disgruntled patients who post negative ratings or comments? | | 9. How can I improve my iCheckup® score? | | 10. How do I add my photograph and profile to the iCheckup™ site? | | 11. A procedure I perform is not listed. How can I notify patients I perform this procedure? | | 12. May I use the iCheckup® ratings and comments on my own website? |
| | 1. How does iCheckup® compare to other patient satisfaction surveys? | | iCheckup® enables health care providers to survey their patients at no cost. Unlike paper-based surveys, iCheckup® provides all of the tabulation and comparison of data for health care providers. Unlike other internet-based surveys, iCheckup® provides feedback to health care providers at no charge to the provider. | | Top of Page | | 2. Why is it important to obtain patient feedback? | | We believe that most health care providers strive to provide excellent service to their patients. When patients feel that they have not received excellent service, it is important for the health care provider to be appraised of this so appropriate corrective measures may be taken. Patient dissatisfaction can arise from pre-care issues (scheduling conflicts, long waiting time, personality conflicts with front desk staff), delivery of care issues (poor bedside manner, unexpected side effects, excessive or prolonged pain), and post-delivery care issues (promising results that are not obtained, poorly handled complications, lack of availability). When identified, each of these issues may be corrected to ensure optimal future patient care. | | Top of Page | | 3. What does the iCheckup® survey include? | | The iCheckup® patient survey is structured and divided into sections. Basic questions about the facility and staff are included, as well as specific information about the health care provider. Additional questions are included for patient identified areas, such as satisfaction with the results of a procedure. | | Top of Page | | 4. How do I use the iCheckup® survey information? | | Health care providers can view the results of individual and aggregated patient satisfaction surveys at any time. These results can be analyzed for trends and compared to peer data. The overall results, data trends and comparison with other providers enable each health care provider to identify areas where they can improve the quality of care delivered. | | Top of Page | | 5. How do I tell patients about the survey? | | iCheckup® provide you with cards that you or your office staff can give to patients. These cards can be used as appointment reminder cards that also contain a message asking patients to provide feedback. iCheckup® enables you to link to your personal patient survey from your website. We will also help you with other strategies to encourage patient feedback, such as posting a sign at the check-out window in your office, using social media to encourage feedback, providing feedback incentives, and obtaining feedback at the point of service. | | Top of Page | | 6. Can iCheckup® help prevent malpractice suits? | | In the U.S., there are tens of thousands of medical malpractice suits pending in the at any time. We believe that many of these suits may have been avoided if (1) patients had identified "the best" health care provider for their particular needs, and (2) health care providers were able to identify and interact with patients who need or desire additional care. When patients and health care providers utilize the tools and services provided by iCheckup®, we make it possible to achieve these goals and, hopefully, reduce malpractice suits. | | Top of Page | | 7. What happens with comments that patients enter in the survey? | | Comments are able to be read by the public. This is a common trend on sites throughout the internet. The majority of comments will be positive and this will help boost a provider's credibility. Negative comments are helpful in identifying deficiencies -- when a deficiency is corrected the negative comments cease, and patients will see that a provider cares enough to improve the quality of care they deliver. Comments that are inflammatory, libelous, slanderous, sexual, offensive, malicious, inappropriate, or not made in good faith may be removed or edited. | | Top of Page | | 8. What about disgruntled patients who post negative ratings or comments? | | Unfortunately, there will always be some patients who will be dissatisfied, no matter how good a health care provider is. If these patients decide to vent their dissatisfaction on the iCheckup® site, the provider is encouraged to correct the source of dissatisfaction. The rating and comments may be updated to reflect the positive experience. Multiple negative entries from the same patient and inflammatory entries from anonymous users may be subject to removal as iCheckup® does not consider these types of entries to facilitate patient-provider interaction nor help the public choose a health care provider. | | Top of Page | | 9. How can I improve my iCheckup® score? | | The more positive ratings and comments patients post about you, your staff, your facility and the quality of care you deliver, the better your iCheckup® score will be. Encourage your patients to leave feedback about you on the iCheckup® site and you will see a score that accurately reflects the quality of service you provide. If your iCheckup® score remains low after multiple patients have provided feedback, please identify the problematic areas and correct the deficiencies. Subsequent feedback should demonstrate a positive trend. | | Top of Page | | 10. How do I add my photograph and profile to the iCheckup™ site? | | After completing the free registration/validation process, you may upload your photograph, enter your website, and list biographical information to enhance your profile. | | Top of Page | | 11. A procedure I perform is not listed. How can I notify patients I perform this procedure? | | The list of procedures available for each specialist is updated regularly. If you perform a core procedure that is not listed, please request that the procedure be added to your profile. In the meantime, each provider registered on the iCheckup® system may post announcements about any topic they choose, including information about available procedures. | | Top of Page | | 12. May I use the iCheckup® ratings and comments on my own website? | | You are encouraged to place links on your website that display your current iCheckup® score and comments that have been made regarding your practice. This demonstrates your willingness to engage in an open and thoughtful dialogue with your patients. Providing these links to data collected and hosted by a third party, such as the iCheckup® system, is especially helpful if you live in a jurisdiction that prohibits health care providers from collecting and displaying their own testimonials. These links are available to health care providers that have registered with iCheckup®. | | Top of Page |
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