I went to a seminar for health bloggers the other day sponsored by Consumer Reports called  A Healthier Web – Blogging, Rating and Building Community.

The Consumer Reports people said that the idea behind the seminar was to “encourage an interactive discussion about consumer-driven health care and specifically how health bloggers have transformed health communication.”

We attended two panel discussion:

The first one looked at the role of health bloggers from the role of a reporter, a mom, an advocate and a neurologist.
The panelists were:

Scott Hensley, Editor, Wall Street Journal Health Blog
Jessica Gottlieb, Mommy Blogger, LAMomsBlogs.com
Amy Tenderich, Blogger, Diabetes Mine
Dr. Orly Avitzur, Neurologist and Consumer Reports Medical Adviser.

The discussion was moderated by former LoHud editor Gayle Williams, now deputy health editor at Consumer Reports.

The second panel talked about the controversial issue of rating doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers.

Panelists included

Dr. John Santa, Director, Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center
Avery Comarow, Editor, U.S. News & World Report: America’s Best Hospitals
Kathy Ciccone, Vice President for Quality and Research Initiatives, Healthcare Association of New York State.

Long and spirited discussion led to the following conclusions:

1. Doctor and hospital rating are vital and anyone who doesn’t get on board now is going to suffer the consequences.

2. Doctor and hospital rating are worthless, or in the words of one participant: Garbage in, garbage out.

The most useful tidbit came from Avery Comarow, editor, U.S. News & World Report: America’s Best Hospitals.

His advice on how to find a good doctor?

“Ask a nurse.”