Finding The Best Doctor Can Be Difficult
Whether for routine care or a special situation or condition, it can be difficult to find the right doctor. And finding the best in a particular field is even a bigger crap shoot.
Conventional wisdom dictates that the best way to find a specialist is from your primary care doctor, another health professional, or a referral from someone who has had a good experience. Of course sometimes that’s not possible, so many people turn to various top-doctor directories for answers. Unfortunately, some of the information contained in those sources is not exactly accurate. According to The New York Times each source uses a different method to come up with their list. Believe it or not, some just use phone directories; others poll actual doctors to get the names of whomever they consider tops in their field; and some use patient reviews.
“In fact, nobody knows who the top doctors are, not even the doctors themselves. It is safe to say that the very topmost doctors, confusingly, are probably not top doctors. They have become media stars and household names through efforts that presumably leave them little time to hone those top-doctor skills.”