People are being invited to compare, rate and review doctors and other healthcare providers on a new website.

Photo: Screenshot/www.whitecoat.co.nz

Whitecoat, backed by health insurer nib New Zealand, today launched a website featuring between 8000 and 10,000 providers including medical specialists, GPs, dentists and physiotherapists.

A similar website was launched in Australia five years ago and expanded last year through a joint venture with healthcare provider Bupa and insurer HBF.

NIB New Zealand chief executive Rob Hennin said the site will promote transparency, which will drive competition and improve customer experiences.

"What it's assessing is how a customer thinks about the provider... Did the provider explain the procedure to you? Do you think you got value for money? How did you feel after the operation?"

He said that, as in Australia, the website, which will be moderated, will not assess a provider's clinical expertise or quality of clinical care.

Whitecoat will not make money out of the website either, Mr Hennin said.

"For us it's all about helping our customers to improve their choices. It's about transparency and helping people look after themselves better."

The website is backed by prominent Northland GP, Lance O'Sullivan, who said people already talk about healthcare providers among themselves and share experiences.

"People have circles where they have conversations about, hey, this doctor's good and this one's not. This nurse is kind and this one isn't."

But New Zealand Medical Association chair Kate Baddock, who said she's never heard of Whitecoat, was worried about how clinical expertise could be missing from assessments by the public.

"If they get an explanation [from a doctor] that is not to their liking, then again that would be a negative experience, and yet it actually reflects the competence of the doctors."

She also wanted to know who will be moderating the website. "What are they going to use as a criterion for moderation, and how are they going to govern that in a clinical kind of a way."

Ian Powell, from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, said the website set a dubious precedent.

"It raises serious concerns about fair treatment of doctors if comments can be made about them without any context or attempt at verification.

"For example, what happens if a doctor initiates child protection proceedings because they are concerned about a child's wellbeing, and one of the parents involved subsequently rates the doctor poorly or posts negative comments?"

'Read the privacy policy'

The head of research at Consumer New Zealand, Jessica Wilson, said she strongly recommended users read the Whitecoat privacy policy on its website.

She said Whitecoat was partly owned by private health insurers and there are plans to add more options, such as the ability for users to make health insurance claims.

"At that point, the privacy policy provides that Whitecoat can get access to your personal health information records so it can process that claim or information can be passed on to insurers that is working with."

But Whitecoat's Sydney-based CEO, Matthew Donnellan, said at this stage, the website had no intention of asking anything of consumers othen than their basic contact information.

"As stated in our policy, we distinguish between public users - who just want to browse the site - and Whitecoat users, who may have a relationship with licensees which gives rise to more data requests," he said.