The B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons is changing the way it assesses the province's doctors — by getting a second opinion from their patients.

Up until now, the process has been done only on the basis of medical record reviews.

The college this week put out a request for proposals to develop web-based questionnaires for opinions from patients and also from doctors' colleagues and co-workers.

The information gathered would be part of a mandatory revalidation process for every physician, said college registrar Dr. Heidi Oetter.

Oetter said physicians benefit from patients opinions and impressions about their care.

"We want to make sure that important information about how physicians are perceived by their patients is provided back to them,” said Oetter.

“It may also identify to us at the college level where we may have a colleague in trouble, that we can intervene and offer some more focussed remediation opportunities.”

Patients' advocates see it as a positive step.

"We're quite pleased to see the direction they're going in," Christina Krause speaks for the B.C. Patient Safety and Quality Council.

The council called for better peer review last year after a crisis involving thousands of tests read by unqualified radiologists.

"Patient input into the design and creation of services in health care is absolutely critical," said Krause.

Oetter said the revamped process could be up and running within a year.

With files from the CBC's Jason Proctor