Minnesota Blue plan accepts provider reviews on Web site

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has taken an unusual step--it's allowing patients to post provider reviews to a new, dedicated website owned and managed by one of its subsidiaries. Lately, Blue Cross of Minnesota has begun advertising the site on consumer health destinations. So far, the site has collected 130+ healthcare stories, and seen about 9,000 visitors, according to the health plan.

While such reviews can be easily found on a growing number of privately-run sites, such as HealthGrades.com and RateMDs.com, health insurers are far more prone to publish statistical data and provide their own ratings. In fact, to my knowledge, this is a first. (Am I wrong? Let me know.)  What's interesting is that the site doesn't scream out that it's owned by a health plan; in fact, it's packaged exactly like the RateMDs.com of the world.

To find out more about the reviews:
- read this St. Paul Pioneer Press article (reg. req.)

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