San Mateo, California-based Doximity, a medical communications platform and physician referral engine, partnered with US News & World Report to make its directory of 700,000 physicians available to consumers as well as other doctors.

US News & World Report famously provides rankings of colleges and universities, but also ranks hospitals, doctors, and health plans with the goal of helping consumers make difficult decisions. US News & World Report's general manager for health rankings Ben Harder told MobiHealthNews in an email that Doximity's data will likely be folded into US News & World Report's existing doctor rankings.

"Our long-term objective is to offer consumers the best possible guidance on which doctors to see for any given medical need," Harder wrote. "Our current directory of Top Doctors is base on a peer-reputation-driven survey, and we feel that reputation is a critical element -- though certainly not the only element -- of data that consumers should use to make their decisions. That's why Doximity is such an important new data provider for us. In time, we may use many different data providers to help give consumers the tools to assess doctors."

The deal will help Doximity sign additional doctors on, as well, by adding a new value to the service. Doximity maintains a directory of 700,000 physicians, of whom 170,000 are Doximity members. Doximity members will have more control than nonmembers over what information about them US News & World Report shares with its readers.

"Now, simply by maintaining an up-to-date profile on doximity.com, a doctor can ensure that visitors to usnews.com, who number more than 20 million a month, know which hospitals she admits patients to, for example, and which insurance plans she accepts," the two companies said in a joint release.

Palo-Alto-based HealthTap, which recently added an app curation component to its platform, introduced a physician rating system last November to help consumers choose doctors. Several dedicated companies deal in physician ranking companies exist, such as Vitals.com, Healthgrades, and RateMDs.com, and ZocDoc helps patients locate doctors. However HealthTap and Doximity stand out as multi-purpose physician networks that have entered the consumer ratings game.