The American Medical Association on Wednesday plans to announce an agreement to partner with Sermo, a startup company that encourages physicians to share information on a Web site and charges investment companies to view the information, which "could serve as tip-offs to drug side effects and other market-moving medical trends," AP/Long Island Newsday reports. According to AP/Newsday, AMA, which has 250,000 members, hopes that the two-year agreement will "open a new line of communication, allowing members to quickly share everything from advice about treating an individual patient's unique symptoms to opinions on whether regulators should approve an experimental drug."

Physicians can join the Web site at no cost after they provide medical license numbers and other personal information, which Sermo verifies against records databases. Physicians post information on the Web site anonymously and do not have to indicate any financial ties with pharmaceutical or medical device companies. In addition, physicians rank the credibility of information posted on the Web site, and Sermo in some cases sends $20 checks to physicians who post information that receives high ranks.

According to Sermo, about 15,000 physicians have joined since the Web site launched…