Man launches surgeon ratings site, expert says to be wary of the data

HOUSTON – Robert Krughoff launched surgeonratings.org Wednesday and he thinks it will be a game changer.

"We've done this for 52,000 surgeons across the country and we have case records of these surgery case records, detailed records of more than 4 million," Krughoff said.

He claims that in 2006 his company filed a lawsuit seeking access to surgical records to help establish the ratings. They wanted to know things like which surgeons reported the fewest complications.

President of the Harris County Medical Society, Dr Bradford Patt says that patients should be skeptical about a site like this one.

"You don't know how the data is being collected, whether there is subjective data, who's being paid, whether there is any influence being manipulated in getting the results," Patt said.

The Better Business Bureau gave the website's parent company, Consumers' Checkbook, an  A+ rating.

"This is a website that helps people choose the best surgeons but it's not just based on what consumers or survey respondents say about them," Krughodd said.

Dr. Patt says he doesn't deny it could be helpful to patients.

"I think they're trying to get good data out there and I think, it's very good intentions but they have to be careful about how they interpret that data," Patt said.

Patt knows you're going to do your homework online anyway so they suggest instead to visit the Texas Medical Board.