| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Lyndhurst, New Jersey, United States |
| Industry | Health Information Services |
| Services | Doctor evaluation and comparison service |
| Parent | MDx Medical, Inc. |
| Website | http://www.vitals.com |
Vitals is an online resource for patients to find and connect with doctors. Although the site focuses on doctors in the United States, it also provides limited international physician listings. Vitals claims to collect over 1.4 billion points of data on doctors[1], including patient reviews. It differentiates itself by remaining free for both consumers and doctors to use.
Originally launched in 2008, Vitals has grown to be the 18th largest health website according to comScore, and peaked as the 387th most visited website in the United States[2]. In addition to being a doctor finder, the site also provides content on preparing for a doctor visit and has tools for patients to connect with doctors online via email appointment request forms. In February 2011, MDx Medical Inc., the parent company for Vitals, completed the purchase of UCompareHealthCare.com from The New York Times Company. [3]
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Vitals was launched in 2008 by Mitchel Rothschild. Rothschild claims the idea was born out of personally experiencing the complexity of finding a qualified physician for a surgery on his knee.[4]
Vitals has raised investment capital from Milestone Venture Partners, Greycroft Partners, Cross Atlantic Partners[5], Cardinal Partners[6] and Health Venture Group[7].
CNN’s Money Magazine named the company the best doctor site in February 2010[8], and Forbes called Vitals one of the “Five Health Shopping Web Sites Worth Watching” in June, 2010[9].
After the February 2011 purchase of rival UCompareHealthCare.com, Rothschild stated the combined sites are visited 100 million times annually.[10]. Shortly after that, Vitals was listed as 122nd fastest growing private company in US by Inc.[11]
Revenues for Vitals are generated by ad sales, as well as by selling direct services to physicians, health care facilities and insurances.
Vitals has been criticized along with Avvo and other doctor-review sites for allowing reviews to be posted about doctors anonymously[12]. Vitals claims that reviews submitted by users are systemically screened for defamatory or inflammatory remarks. They also have a Physician Relations team that investigates suspicious reviews.