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Second-Annual Vitals "Doctor Bowl" Predicts Game WinnerIt's an East Coast vs. West Coast matchup for the Big Game this year, and with the main event less than two weeks away, everyone wants to be an armchair quarterback. Both the Patriots and Seahawks were No. 1 seeds in their conference - so the game will be played with the best teams in the NFL. But while others debate the finer points between the famed quarterbacks and top-rated cornerbacks of the two opposing teams, we're analyzing them by what we know best: their team doctors. The role of the team physician can't be underestimated when assessing a team's chance to win. From concussions to ankle sprains, football players sustain more injuries than players from any other sport. And both teams are heading into the Super Bowl with players on the injury list. It's also worth mentioning that Vitals accurately predicted last year's winner. The Vitals "Doctor Bowl" analyzes several quality ratings for the team doctors by averages, since the Seahawks have five team physicians, while the Patriots have four. The first consideration is experience. Doctors for the Patriots have an average of 20.75 years of medical experience - two full years more than doctors for the Seahawks, who average 18.6 years of medical experience. While both teams' doctors are well regarded by the famous athletes they care for, we looked at what their other patients say about them. Boston doctors are rated just slightly higher, but they're rated more often. Patriots' team doctors have an average of 9.75 ratings, compared to 7.8 ratings for the Seahawks' doctors. Team doctors for the Patriots also boast higher academic credentials. The average medical school rating was 4.0, compared to 3.2 for schools attended by Seahawks' doctors. As for honors and awards, doctors on the Patriots are also more decorated. Their doctors have earned 26 peer and patient recognized awards, or an average of 6.5 per physician. The Seahawks have 28 recognitions, or 5.6 per doctor. So while the official game has yet to be played, the Patriots take the second-annual Vitals' "Doctor Bowl." See our table for more about each team's doctors.
About Vitals Vitals is reinventing the way people shop and save on their medical care. We support effective decision-making through cost, quality and access data, as well as reward and incentive programs. Vitals leads the market with the first transparency and engagement platform that achieves measurable savings for consumers through a retail-like approach to purchasing health care services. Through health plans, hospitals and our leading consumer websites, Vitals helps more than 150 million people each year access better, more affordable care. The Vitals Index is an ongoing report about the state of doctor-patient relationships based on proprietary data and surveys. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
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