Castle Connolly and rater8 Partner to Bridge Peer-Nominated Clinical Excellence with Authentic Patient Experience

Strategic partnership brings automated review generation and real-time patient feedback to Castle Connolly's national network of Top Doctors, Top Dentists, and Top Hospitals.

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Castle Connolly, a trusted source for identifying the nation's top healthcare providers for more than 35 years, and rater8, a leader in healthcare reputation management, today announced a partnership to help hospitals and healthcare practices capture authentic patient feedback, strengthen their online presence, and drive growth.

"Castle Connolly was founded on a simple, vital principle: providing trusted, third-party validation in healthcare," said Steve Leibforth, Managing Director of Castle Connolly. "Today, standing out requires more than clinical credentials alone. Practices must maintain an active, positive presence everywhere prospective patients evaluate their options. Partnering with rater8 allows us to bridge that gap, pairing peer-nominated clinical validation with patient feedback tools that elevate their reputation and drive long-term growth."

Through this strategic partnership, Castle Connolly is expanding its portfolio to offer the rater8 Visibility Engine (raVE) to hospitals, group practices, doctors and dentists nationwide. The collaboration combines Castle Connolly's trusted legacy of independent, peer-nominated provider recognition with rater8's automated review solution, helping organizations with recognized providers stand out everywhere prospective patients search for care.

As patient search behavior evolves, authentic patient reviews and structured online profiles have become essential to provider discovery in an increasingly AI-driven landscape. According to rater8's 2026 Patient Choice Report, 47% of patients have used AI to research or find a healthcare provider, up 16 percentage points from 2025. This partnership empowers healthcare organizations to seamlessly collect post-visit patient sentiment and share real patient experiences.

"Patients are making healthcare decisions with more information at their fingertips than ever before, and a provider's online reputation plays an increasingly important role in that process," said Evan Steele, Founder and CEO of rater8. "Castle Connolly has spent decades building trust around recognizing exceptional providers, while rater8 helps those providers continuously capture authentic feedback from the patients they serve. Together, we're helping healthcare organizations build a more complete online presence that reflects both the quality of care they deliver and the experience patients can expect."

By combining Castle Connolly's independent, peer-nominated recognition with rater8's patient feedback tools, the partnership helps medical institutions ensure their reputation reflects both the confidence of their peers and the experience of their patients.

About Castle Connolly

With over 35 years' experience researching, reviewing and selecting Top Doctors, Castle Connolly is a highly trusted and credible source. A study published in the Journal of Medical Research found that across several specialties evidence indicates that Castle Connolly's peer-reviewed directory is methodologically more reliable than sites that just relied on patient reviews when it came to identifying quality care. Our mission is to help people find the best healthcare by connecting patients with best-in-class healthcare providers. For more information, visit https://www.castleconnolly.com.

About rater8

Founded in 2015 and based in the United States, rater8 is a leading provider of healthcare reputation management. Built exclusively for healthcare, the raVE (rater8 Visibility Engine) platform delivers serious reputation, visibility, and insights that empower providers to put their online reputations to work. raVE gathers authentic patient feedback to strengthen healthcare organizations' local and AI-driven search discoverability, and offers a clear view into the patient experience to identify operational improvements. Recognized for its award-winning customer service, rater8 is committed to providing meticulously intelligent reputation management that scales healthcare organizations from the inside out. For more information, visit https://rater8.com/.

Media Contacts

Caroline Baron
Senior Director
[email protected]
(212) 367-8400

Erica Camilo
Connexa Communications for rater8
C: 610.639.5644
[email protected]

SOURCE Castle Connolly