28/04/2021
Congratulations to EMBA graduate William Bell on being awarded a patent during his time at Colorado based Healthgrades! 
The embodiments of the present application relate to providing a distributed network-based system that allows users to search for potential healthcare providers that satisfy certain criteria and to dynamically identify healthcare providers that best meet a user's particular needs as defined by each specific search. In embodiments, the system creates experience score for each particular provider who matches the search criteria. The experience score is dynamically determined based on the type of search that is performed (e.g., search by specialty or search by condition or procedure), the query terms used in the search, and other factors including for example, the medical specialty/specialties the provider practices relative to the search performed, evidence the provider treats a condition and/or performs a procedure that matches the consumer's search, patient volume for the searched condition or procedure, total volume of patients, board certification(s) relevant to searched performed, disciplinary action information, malpractice claims history, and degree level attained by the healthcare provider. In other embodiments, the system dynamically ranks healthcare providers within a search results list from best choice to worst choice based on several factors including, for example, the type of search, the query terms used in the search, the quantity of providers who match the query, the locations of the providers who match the query, and the quality and other characteristics of providers who match the search query.
