If you thought Zagat’s restaurant reviews were worth debating, just wait until the famed publisher launches an online survey tool allowing consumers to share their experiences with doctors. That’s right, this January, Zagat will team with Wellpoint, the big health insurer, to help the public critique physicians, according to Reuters.

Actually, the notion makes perfect sense if one believes the concept of ‘consumer-driven’ health care is going to become reality. After all, if most Americans are going to wind up with some form of a health savings account, with or without tax credits, the public will need a way to determine the best value for those precious health care dollars. And then, competitive docs will shell out big bucks for the kind of marketing machines drugmakers use.

Anyway, like other Zagat surveys, enrollees will be able to rate their experiences on a 30-point scale in four categories: trust, communication, availability and office environment. Ratings on specific physicians will become active after 10 have been received, WellPoint spokeswoman Jill Becher tells Reuters. There are, of course, other sites offering ways to rate docs…

In fact, other doctor-rating systems have come under scrutiny. The New York Attorney General last week expanded his probe into doctor-ranking programs, warning that programs may steer patients to low-cost physicians at the expense of patients, Reuters notes.

Health insurers nationally have been seeking to distribute more information to patients about costs and quality as part of a push to arm them with more data to make healthcare decisions. WellPoint already provides cost and quality information to its members involving various medical procedures, but the Zagat tool will allow members to hear what fellow consumers have to say.