MedicusWeb was conceived in 1999 to address two intersecting needs. Patients looking for primary care physicians or medical specialists had difficulty identifying the best or most appropriate doctor. This was because there was so little information available about individual doctors to base their decision. So, people were in need of better information. Doctors began to use the internet in increasing numbers, and many physicians, as well as other healthcare entities, created websites to describe their practices. In 2000, 42% of physicians were in practices that had websites. Unfortunately, standard search engines were inadequate to easily find these websites. Doctors needed a portal, a directory, or a vertical search tool for patients, who could benefit from their expertise, to reach them. MedicusWeb was created to bring these two parties together.
Medicine is far from a perfect marketplace. It has always been difficult for patients to assess the "quality" of their physicians. Shopping for a doctor, in fact, tends to be somewhat random. We hope to rectify this situation. In addition to the physician website directory, this site provides physician related links. State medical boards, medical specialty societies, the Board of Medical Specialties, and the American Medical Association and others maintain websites that are extremely informative. Healthcare consumers have choice, and to intelligently exercise this right they must have the best available knowledge. MedicusWeb is dedicated to providing patients with more information with which to successfully navigate the healthcare system. ¶