I want to congratulate all the Doctors who made it into New York Magazine’s Best Doctors issue. In fact, it was great to see one of our friends’ children, Dr. Scott Moerdler pictured on the main page of the article.
I’d like to particularly congratulate the 30 patients of mine who made it onto the list. I feel extremely fortunate to have so many Best Doctors as friends.
The article made me think again about what is truly “The Best”. Is there really such a thing? I think not in the absolute. Choosing a healthcare provider is extremely complex and I know many great physicians who are not on this list.
I really believe that it depends on your personal needs, your specific goals and wants. Do you need someone with a dynamic personality and fantastic bedside manner? Do you need someone warm and fuzzy or are you content with expertise and results?
Do you have a non-routine problem? Are you in need of a ‘super-specialist’? Are you one of the “challenging” cases that Lisa Sanders, M.D. writes about in her weekly The New York Times Magazine article that I love to read?
When I personally refer to another Doctor, I consider many issues and perhaps you should as well.
- Does the Doctor have specific expertise in the area in which the patient needs?
- Is the Doctor readily accessible?
- Does the Doctor’s personality mesh with the patients’?
- Is the Doctor communicative with the patient and me?
- Is the Doctor’s office efficient?
- Does the Doctor have emergency coverage?
- Does the Doctor use the latest technology to help diagnose, treat and communicate?
- Does the Doctor have a passion for what they do?
- Does the Doctor demand excellence from himself or herself as well as those around them?
- Is the Doctor’s office a reflection of their care, skill and passion?
Please excuse me, as I did not list financial considerations as a criterion for choosing a Doctor. While that is a personal decision, I believe that I’d rather sacrifice other things than my health. Many of us have the latest smart phones and cable TV. We take vacations and drive cars that aren’t necessarily the least expensive on the road. In short, we make value judgments all the time about how to spend our money.
There’s a saying that says: A healthy man has many worries; an unhealthy person has only ONE!
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