Oft referred to as LinkedIn for doctors, social networking site Doximity is boasting this week that it’s acquired its 200,000th member.
That might not seem like a lot when compared to the 225 million members LinkedIn has signed up, but it’s almost a quarter of the 850,000 actively licensed physicians in the U.S., according to a 2010 census. And it’s more than another physician-only network, Sermo, who claims on its website to have 135,000 members.
While doctors have been cautioned to proceed with extreme caution on mainstream social media networks, exclusive, physician-only networks provide a safe place for them to connect with each other, find referrals, or seek second opinions from colleagues.
Doximity is a social platform that physicians can run on their smartphones, tablets or computers to connect with other physicians and specialists to securely send faxes, text messages, emails and images from one inbox. Like LinkedIn, it also has latest news and discussion features where doctors can read the latest clinical research that applies to them and chime in on featured topics. Physicians are verified by the company, who checks their DEA numbers and medical licenses.
The social networking site is the brainchild of Jeff Tangney — also the founder of Epocrates. That company, which markets a physician reference app, went public in 2011. Doximity so far has raised some $27 million from Emergence Capital Partners, InterWest Capital and Morgenthaler Ventures.
According to a report in TechCrunch, the three-year-old company is not yet turning a profit. Right now, its revenue model is to charge members for sending information above a certain size limit, and to take a piece of consultations or honoraria it facilitates through the site. As Doximity’s member base continues to grow, being able to successfully monetize will be key for the company.
As an interesting note, out of its 200,000 members, the network says its most active specialties are plastic surgery, neurosurgery, allergy, thoracic surgery and pulmonology.
