We’re excited to have Doximity as our featured sponsor this week.  The ideas below, however, are conceived, shaped and written on my own.

In a world where doctor’s are feeling the squeeze from all sides, Doximity is working to create a space that makes it easy for doctors to do what they do.  Having watched it evolve from the time of its launch, what’s impressed me is the consistent ability of the Doximity team to pivot and adjust their product depending upon the needs of its users.  What I saw 3 years ago is not what I find today.  And what I’ll see in 3 years will likely be something tested and tweaked for a new crop of digital physicians.

I wanted to do something a little different with this post, so I searched and handpicked a few Doximity facts that highlight its unique features and position.  Doximity is free for licensed physicians and medical students in the U.S.  Register and claim your profile if you haven’t yet.  It will help you make sense of the list.

1.  Doximity is as much platform as network.  While Doximity is often thought of as just a social network, it serves a variety of functions including rolodex, professional profile page, CME tool, email/fax/text service, news portal, and digital doctors lounge for curbsides and conversation.  It’s emerging as a platform for doctors to get things done.

2.  Doximity was founded by Jeff Tangney, co-founder of Epocrates.  Jeff knows doctors and he knows how to build the things they use.  This explains why he’s super-involved in the experience of the Doximity user.  He regularly takes email from Doximity users at jeff at doximity dot com (I’d recommend joining first).

3.  1 in 4 U.S. physicians is on Doximity.  And a recent survey by the American College of Physicians listed Doximity as a top 5 app most used by the members of ACP.

4.  Doximity is doctor-driven.  The majority of product decisions come from Doximity’s member groups – Medical Advisory Board, Fellows, Panelists & Ambassadors.  (For example, my input was instrumental in selection of the current ‘wifi d’ logo that you see up and to the right).  The co-founder of Doximity, Nate Gross, is a physician.

5.  You can earn CME credits like you’re eating potato chips.  I just started doing this and here’s my process: Read | Learn | hit button.  It’s like eating potato chips, only better for your brain. The program is powered by the Cleveland Clinic and supported by the content of a load of major journals.  Doximity will track your credits and, most impressively, they’ve hired elves to personally integrate your CME credits onto your Doximity transcript.  Email them at CME@doximity.com

6.  Doximity users love to fax.  One of the most frequently used Doximity features is its HIPAA compliant fax tool.  Since I’m not a fax user at all, this has always been a surprise to me.  As a registered Doximity user, you are assigned a lifetime fax number that allows you to send and receive secure fax messages between offices or to pharmacies.

7.  Physician profiles are public facing.  Many members don’t know this, but your profile is searchable and viewable to the public at your discretion.  Controlling your digital footprint is a new professional responsibility for doctors.  And if you don’t tell your story, someone else will.  All the more reason to have a complete and compelling profile.

8.  Adding a profile photo doubles the chances of someone finding you.  Doximity profiles with pictures get preferential search ranking.  So upload your mug and be found.

9.  Med students rule.  Doximity supports the next generation of physician from day one of medical school through their inclusion in the network.  Med students sign up just like doctors.  They’ve been a Doximity priority since their earliest days.

10.  Public content can convert to doctor-only dialog.  Sensitive to the fact that some docs are bashful about their commentary, Doximity has designed elements to pull dialog started in public into the professionally private realm.  On Twitter, for example, tag your tweet with #dox and your post will make its way into iRound, Doximity’s chatter stream.  They’ve got a nifty Doximity share button that, when punched, opens a comment box and then, when saved, pulls the link of that article along into Doximity iRounds.  If you go to the bottom of this post and hit the Doximity share button, you can see it in action.  For best effect, sign in to Doximity first.

11.  Doximity search is perhaps its most underutilize power-feature. This is helpful when looking for doctors of a particular breed.  For instance, if you needed a French speaking knee surgeon in Atlanta, you could type “ortho knee french Atlanta” and find that perfect referral.  I’m not kidding, try this.

12.  The co-founder of LinkedIn, Konstantin Guericke, sits on Doximity’s Advisory Board.  Tells you a little about where Doximity sees itself heading.

There are lots of other interesting features to Doximity.  Check it out and find your own.  And if you’re not a member, you can claim your profile here.

So what key features of doximity did I forget?