Vitals.com Physician Scraper

Extract comprehensive physician profiles and ratings from Vitals.com - America's most trusted healthcare provider directory with over 1 million doctors and specialists.

Overview

Vitals.com Physician Scraper is a production-ready actor that extracts comprehensive physician and healthcare provider information from the Vitals.com directory. It collects detailed profiles including credentials, specialties, patient ratings, and availability data.

Primary Use Cases

• Healthcare Intelligence - Build comprehensive provider databases and directories
• Physician Recruitment - Identify specialists in specific fields and locations
• Market Research - Analyze physician distribution and specialization trends
• Medical Directory Integration - Power healthcare platforms with fresh provider data
• Patient Research Tools - Enable patients to compare and evaluate healthcare providers
• Insurance Networks - Verify and update in-network physician databases

Key Features

Data Extraction Methods

• JSON API Priority - Fast, structured data retrieval using internal APIs
• HTML Fallback - Comprehensive parsing when API access is limited
• JSON-LD Support - Extract schema.org markup for rich data
• Multi-field Extraction - Credentials, ratings, insurance, specialties

Performance & Reliability

• Concurrent Processing - Configurable parallel requests for speed
• Timeout Safety - Graceful handling of time constraints
• Proxy Support - Built-in Apify Proxy integration
• Error Recovery - Automatic fallback mechanisms
• Rate Limiting - Respectful request pacing

Data Quality

• Duplicate Prevention - Intelligent deduplication
• Field Validation - Clean, normalized data output
• Comprehensive Profiles - Complete physician information
• Real-time Updates - Current directory data

Getting Started

Minimum Input (Quick Search)

{
  "specialty": "Cardiologist",
  "results_wanted": 10
}

Standard Configuration (Full Details)

{
  "specialty": "Cardiovascular Disease",
  "location": "New York",
  "results_wanted": 50,
  "collectDetails": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}

Advanced Configuration (Large-Scale Collection)

{
  "specialty": "Dermatology",
  "location": "California",
  "insurance": "Aetna",
  "results_wanted": 200,
  "max_pages": 5,
  "collectDetails": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description	Example
specialty	string	No	Medical specialty or field	"Cardiologist", "Psychiatry"
location	string	No	Geographic location or state	"New York", "Los Angeles"
insurance	string	No	Insurance provider name	"Blue Cross", "United Health"
startUrl	string	No	Direct Vitals.com search URL	"https://www.vitals.com/doctors?..."
results_wanted	integer	No	Target number of physicians (1-500)	50
max_pages	integer	No	Maximum search pages to process	5
collectDetails	boolean	No	Extract full physician profiles	true
maxConcurrency	integer	No	Parallel request limit (1-10)	3
proxyConfiguration	object	No	Proxy settings for reliability	{"useApifyProxy": true}

Output Data Structure

Each physician record contains:

{
  "id": "unique-physician-id",
  "doctorId": "doctor-profile-id",
  "name": "Dr. John Smith",
  "specialty": "Cardiology",
  "location": "New York, NY",
  "phone": "(212) 555-0123",
  "email": "contact@clinic.com",
  "website": "https://drsmith-cardiology.com",
  "rating": 4.8,
  "reviews": 287,
  "education": "Harvard Medical School, MD",
  "experience": 15,
  "certifications": ["Board Certified - American College of Cardiology"],
  "accepted_insurance": ["Aetna", "Blue Cross", "Cigna"],
  "bio": "Dr. Smith specializes in interventional cardiology...",
  "bio_html": "<p>Dr. Smith specializes in interventional cardiology...</p>",
  "url": "https://www.vitals.com/doctors/dr-john-smith",
  "source": "api",
  "fetched_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Field Descriptions

• id - Unique physician identifier
• doctorId - Profile ID from Vitals.com
• name - Full physician name
• specialty - Primary medical specialty
• location - Office location (city, state)
• phone - Contact phone number
• email - Contact email address
• website - Physician website or practice URL
• rating - Average patient rating (0-5 scale)
• reviews - Total number of patient reviews
• education - Medical education and degrees
• experience - Years of medical practice
• certifications - Board certifications and credentials
• accepted_insurance - Insurance providers accepted
• bio - Plain text physician biography
• bio_html - HTML formatted biography
• url - Direct link to Vitals profile
• source - Data source (api/html-fallback)
• fetched_at - Extraction timestamp

Use Cases & Applications

Healthcare Intelligence Platforms

Extract physician data to power patient review platforms, healthcare ratings, and provider comparison tools with up-to-date information.

Recruitment & Staffing

Identify and contact specialists for clinical staffing needs, hospital recruitment, or private practice partnerships.

Medical Research

Analyze physician distribution, specialization patterns, and geographic availability across the United States.

Insurance Network Verification

Validate and update in-network physician databases to ensure accurate coverage information for members.

Patient Safety Applications

Enable patients to research providers, verify credentials, read reviews, and make informed healthcare decisions.

Performance & Optimization

Recommended Configurations by Use Case

Use Case	Specialty	Location	Results	Pages	Time
Research	Yes	No	25	2	~1 min
Standard Search	Yes	Yes	50	3	~2 min
Comprehensive	Yes	Yes	100	5	~4 min
Large Dataset	Yes	Yes	250	10	~8 min

Cost Effectiveness

• Free Tier: Up to 50 physicians per run
• Standard Pricing: Approximately $0.001 per physician profile
• Proxy Costs: Additional for premium proxy services (recommended)

Performance Tips

1. Start with specialty filtering - Narrow results to specific medical fields
2. Use geographic constraints - Limit to relevant states or regions
3. Enable proxies - Apify Proxy improves reliability and speed
4. Monitor concurrency - Balance speed with resource usage (3-5 recommended)
5. Batch large requests - Split massive collections into multiple runs

Configuration Examples

Cardiology Specialists in New York

{
  "specialty": "Cardiology",
  "location": "New York",
  "results_wanted": 30,
  "collectDetails": true
}

Dermatologists Accepting Medicare

{
  "specialty": "Dermatology",
  "location": "Florida",
  "insurance": "Medicare",
  "results_wanted": 40,
  "max_pages": 3
}

Pediatricians - Multi-State Search

{
  "specialty": "Pediatrics",
  "results_wanted": 100,
  "max_pages": 5,
  "collectDetails": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 4
}

Psychiatry with Full Profiles

{
  "specialty": "Psychiatry",
  "location": "California",
  "results_wanted": 75,
  "collectDetails": true,
  "max_pages": 4
}

System Requirements & Coverage

Geographic Coverage

• United States Coverage - All 50 states supported
• Major Metropolitan Areas - All major cities included
• Rural Areas - Comprehensive rural provider data

Specialty Coverage

Supports all medical specialties including:

• Cardiology, Neurology, Orthopedics
• Dermatology, Psychiatry, Oncology
• Primary Care, Pediatrics, Obstetrics
• Surgery, Internal Medicine, and more

Data Attributes

• Complete physician profiles with credentials
• Patient ratings and review aggregation
• Insurance network information
• Educational background and certifications
• Years of experience and practice details

Troubleshooting

No Results Returned

• Verify specialty name and spelling
• Check location format and validity
• Try broader search terms
• Ensure internet connectivity

Timeout Issues

• Reduce results_wanted value
• Lower max_pages setting
• Decrease maxConcurrency
• Enable proxy configuration

Incomplete Physician Data

• Ensure collectDetails is set to true
• Check if profiles are publicly available on Vitals.com
• Some physicians may have limited profile information

API Errors

• Enable useApifyProxy for stability
• Check input parameter formatting
• Reduce concurrent requests if rate limited
• Verify Apify account quota availability

Dataset Output

All extracted physician data is automatically saved to the Apify Dataset in standardized JSON format, ready for:

• Direct API consumption
• Export to CSV/Excel
• Database integration
• Business intelligence tools
• Third-party applications

Rate Limiting & Ethics

• Respects website robots.txt directives
• Implements intelligent rate limiting
• Configurable request throttling
• Designed for ethical data extraction
• Compliant with Terms of Service

Support & Documentation

For additional help:

• Review input parameter examples
• Check configuration templates
• Verify specialty and location values
• Enable proxy for enhanced reliability
• Monitor execution logs for diagnostics

License & Terms

This actor extracts publicly available physician directory information in accordance with Vitals.com Terms of Service and applicable data collection regulations.

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Keywords: physician directory, doctor profiles, healthcare providers, medical specialists, Vitals ratings, patient reviews, provider search, medical credentials, healthcare intelligence, directory scraping