Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Best Doctor?

I just commented on a post made by Paul Levy @ http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/
Could not agree more with this post and it is equally true for Doctors as it is for hospitals. Who is "the best" cardiologist? Urologist? Dermatologist?
Patients ask friends and doctors they know for referrals. Do these people really know who is the best... Indeed not, a mythology exists here as well. Referrals are based on such things as visibility, reputation, amiability, affability, availability, sociability and longevity. Very rarely indeed are they based on ABILTY.
I recommend patients go to a specialty group practice and ask very specifically the nurses and assistants who work directly with all the doctors (in surgery if it concerns surgeons) which one they would send their sick relative to. Often it may not be the esteemed head of the practice they were originally recommended.