Healthgrades

Healthgrades helps people find doctors and hospitals, review provider information, and arrange appointments. Doctor search filters include insurance, distance, availability, patient reviews, gender, age, and specialty. Users with an account can save doctors and request or book online appointments for featured doctors. The service is available on Android, iOS, and the web. Healthgrades says its profiles feature more than 10 million patient ratings, with reviews confirmed and audited before publication. Every provider listed in the National Provider Identifier Registry has a free profile that the provider can claim and update. Hospitals and medical groups can pay to promote provider profiles; those placements are marked sponsored. Healthgrades Choice considers experience, hospital quality, patient satisfaction, and medical sanctions, and providers cannot pay for or influence the designation. Patient Favorite has defined rating, review, license, and sanctions criteria. The service also offers articles, appointment guides, slideshows, videos, and quizzes about conditions and procedures. Its free account page describes Healthgrades Rx, powered by Optum Perks, as a way to save on prescription medicine.

Healthgrades combines provider search, patient reviews, hospital information, and appointment options. Users should note sponsored profiles and that online booking applies to featured doctors.

Healthgrades suits people comparing local doctors and hospitals, using search filters, or looking for patient reviews. It may also help users save doctors and request or book appointments with featured doctors.

Overview

Healthgrades is a healthcare directory for people comparing doctors and hospitals and looking for ways to connect with care. It suits patients who want to narrow a local search by insurance, distance, availability, and patient feedback. Its broad search and free consumer access make it a useful starting point, while appointment options are limited to featured doctors.

Key features

Doctor search filters cover insurance, distance, availability, patient reviews, gender, age, and specialty. That combination is practical for patients balancing medical needs with location and coverage; it helps build a shortlist, but does not replace deciding whether a provider is right for an individual’s care.

Every provider in the National Provider Identifier Registry has a free profile that the provider can claim and expand. Healthgrades says its profiles carry more than 10 million patient ratings, with reviews confirmed and audited before publication. The volume can give patients useful perspective, although reviews are only one part of comparing providers.

Its two provider designations use distinct criteria. Healthgrades Choice weighs provider experience, hospital quality, patient satisfaction, and medical sanctions, and providers cannot pay for or influence the designation. Patient Favorite requires a 4.0 rating or higher, six total reviews, five written reviews within the past five years, and an active license without sanctions or malpractice claims. Those defined thresholds give patients more context for interpreting the badges.

Hospital ratings assess performance using patient outcomes and adjust for risk factors such as age, gender, and medical condition. That makes the ratings more relevant to comparing hospitals serving patients with different profiles, though the measure is focused on outcomes.

An account lets users save doctors and request or book appointments online for featured doctors. That can shorten the path from research to scheduling when a featured provider fits, but it does not make online booking a universal option across the directory. Healthgrades also offers articles, appointment guides, slideshows, videos, and quizzes on conditions and procedures, plus Healthgrades Rx, powered by Optum Perks, for prescription savings. Its online care and prescription features are powered by partnerships with Optum Perks Online Care and Optum Perks. Customer support is directed through an online form.

Provider profiles may be promoted by hospitals and medical groups for a fee, and Healthgrades marks those placements as sponsored. The label helps distinguish advertising, but patients should factor promotion into how they read search results.

Pricing

Healthgrades for consumers: free. The free, advertiser-supported plan fits patients who want provider discovery, reviews, hospital information, saved doctors, and the consumer tools without a subscription fee.

Elevated Profile: $49.95 a month, billed $49.95 per month. This plan is for providers, not patients, and its subscription renews automatically until canceled. A provider considering it should weigh the monthly recurring cost against the value of a promoted profile; Healthgrades marks provider promotions as sponsored.

Platforms

Healthgrades is available on Android, iOS, and the web, giving patients options to search from a phone or browser.

Who it's for

Healthgrades is a strong fit for patients beginning a local doctor or hospital search who need to account for insurance, distance, specialty, or availability and want patient ratings as another comparison point. It is less suitable for someone who needs every provider to offer online booking, or who wants search placement to be free of sponsored profiles.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Search filters combine practical constraints such as insurance and distance with specialty and availability, helping patients narrow a broad directory.
• Pros: Provider designations have stated criteria, and providers cannot buy or influence Healthgrades Choice.
• Pros: The consumer plan is free, with doctor and hospital discovery alongside editorial health content and prescription discounts.
• Cons: Online appointment requests and bookings apply only to featured doctors, so scheduling may require another route.
• Cons: Paid profile promotion means sponsored placements appear alongside organic discovery results.
• Cons: Healthgrades directs support requests through an online form, which may not suit users seeking another support channel.

Alternatives

Vitals is another free directory on Android, iOS, and the web; consider it if you want a no-cost healthcare directory alternative. WebMD Physician Directory is a better fit if a provider profile showing accepted insurance, credentials, and conditions treated is the priority; its Basic Profile is free and also appears on Vitals.

For broader business listings rather than a healthcare-focused directory, Europages offers a free company listing on Android, iOS, and the web, with paid service packages priced by contacting Europages. Houzz may suit users looking for a business toolset with a free plan that includes 3D Floor Planner, estimates, and invoicing, plus a Pro plan. Tripadvisor is another option for business listings, with a free plan and a Business Advantage plan billed annually. Wheree offers a free app and a basic business listing, while Yellow Pages Canada and The Real Yellow Pages are alternatives for general business listings.

Browse more options in Healthcare Provider Directories or Business Directories.

Verdict

Choose Healthgrades if you want a free, locally useful starting point for comparing doctors and hospitals through practical filters, patient ratings, and defined provider designations. Look elsewhere if online scheduling across all providers is essential, or if sponsored profile promotion is a concern.