Technology has proven its ability to ease the livelihood of mankind. One of these proves is the doctors search engine. Twenty to thirty years ago, people were used to search on telephone directory about doctors, reserve an appointment then went to the clinics. Nowadays, with the technological development and widespread of the internet use, people can search for doctors online, reserve an appointment wherever the doctor is even if the clinic is overseas.
Doctors search engines provided people with the full data about doctors in specific country or many countries. In this article, we are going to list some of the Doctors Search Engines discussing their details:
1- MedlinePlus
MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in the United States which is considered the world's largest medical library. It was launched in 1998 to provide non-commercial online service for free and free of advertising. The site is presented in both English and Spanish languages. Besides providing links to directories of doctors, health professionals and hospitals over the United States, the site provides also health topics, videos, health check tools and information about drugs, herbs and supplements.
2- Healthgrades
Healthgrades is an American company that provides a database for patients that enables them to search for the appropriate doctor either by: specialty, disease condition, or medical procedures. It allows the patient to review their experience with the doctor to help other people to take their right decision in their choosing process. The site also enables the patient to find out the hospitals either nearby, by specialty, or by awards. Another service of the site is (Health A to Z) which is medical library of information covering medical conditions, illustrating videos and a search engine for drugs and medications. Healthgrades was founded in 1998 in Denver, Colorado. According to the USA Today, Healthgrades is the first comprehensive physician rating and comparison database.
3- WebMD
WebMD is an American Company founded in 1998 that provides health information including a symptom checklist, pharmacy information, drugs information and blogs of physicians with specific topics and provides a place to store personal medical information. The other main service provided to the patients by allowing them to search for doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies according to their needs. By the end of 2016, WebMD recorded an average of 179.5 million users per month.
4- NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the UK's biggest health website, with more than 50 million visits every month. The web site provides thousands of medical articles, videos and tools to improve people’s medical knowledge and help them to make their best choice about their health and wellbeing. Also, the web site provides patients with tools to find their appropriate doctor to make an appointment. People can access their services either through the website or mobile phone app. The website provides iOS, and Android versions.
5- Top Doctors
Top Doctors was launched firstly in Spain in 2013. Year after year, its services widespread to cover Europe, Latin America, the USA and the Middle East. Top Doctors was founded to cover all demands of patients including finding out the appropriate health professional or organization compatible to the patient needs, to book an appointment and payment is covered either by patient himself or by insurance program. The site is provided with reviews of the users. By 2018, the services of e-Consultation, private messaging and video conference were launched.
6- HealthEngine
HealthEngine is an Australian company that provides its healthcare services to more than seven million people who are residents in Australia. The main goal of HealthEngine is to make it easier for patients to connect with health professionals. Patients can book an appointment with the health professional in need. On the other hand, the health professional can sign up on the web site to increase his online visibility and communicate with more patients. The company launched the Telehealth mobile phone application to be available for both Google Play and Apple App Store. Telehealth enables patients to get medical advice on the phone or via video conferencing with trusted healthcare providers anywhere and anytime.
Conclusion
The above mentioned doctors search engines are simple examples for the practical use of technology to improve the health of patients and people generally. There are a lot of doctors search engines on the web. Some of them are restricted to specific countries. In this article, we were keen to summarize the most reputable and used websites providing their medical services to the world.