UPDATED: UT Southwestern docs dominate local entries in “Best Doctors in America” list

... only we don't know and we are about to know which specific doctors are on it.

by PegNews wire

Best Doctors in America constitutes a peer-reviewed selection of U.S. physicians which is published every two years. The 2007-2008 edition includes over 200 docs affiliated with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; 3,224 medicos were singled out as "cream of the crop" in the state of Texas, with a total of about 600 listed in the Dallas area.

According to Dr. Willis Maddrey, UT Southwestern's executive v.p. for clinical affairs, “this is truly a significant testament to the quality of clinical faculty we have practicing at UT Southwestern. It is an affirmation of our unwavering commitment to provide the best care for all of our patients in our hospitals and clinics.”

Just one problem: in order to get hold of the actual list to see the names of the doctors who are on it, you have to buy a copy (as confirmed by our UT Southwestern contact).

That's right: the list of the country's best doctors is FOR SALE. (Wonder if this is covered by my HMO?)

UPDATE: Having just received a call from Beverly Jackson at Best Doctors, I can now report that our reference to the list of best doctors as being "for sale" is not a correct characterization of the way the information is disseminated. Ms. Jackson was kind enough to explain on the phone that the reason they don't just dump the list out there for general consumption is that they want to maintain some sort of control over the way the information is used, and ensure that its informational content is correctly presented.

The Best Doctors folks do, in fact, offer to trade out regionally-derived sub-lists to companies who are willing to provide ad space for Bests Doctors - so you could make the argument that the list is up for barter instead of sale.

In any case, Ms. Jackson will be forwarding a list of D/FW-area doctors included in the 2007-2008 list to our attention, and we will provide that information to our readership when it becomes available.

posted by JM