Best Doctors, a nationally recognized database that contains the names and professional profiles of physicians from across the country, has selected 155 physicians at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for inclusion in the Best Doctors In America 2009-10 database, more than any other health care organization in the central Pennsylvania region. The database is compiled through an exhaustive peer-review study in which thousands of physicians are asked to name the best clinical practitioners in their specialties.
“The inclusion of nearly one-quarter of our physicians in the Best Doctors database reaffirms that our providers are respected nationally by their peers for their clinical excellence, innovation and commitment to our patients,” said Dr. Harold L. Paz, Medical Center chief executive officer, senior vice president for health affairs at Penn State, and dean of the Penn State College of Medicine.
Only 5 percent of the doctors in America earn a spot on the list. The 155 Penn State Hershey Medical Center physicians chosen for the list represent greater than 24 percent of the more than 640 clinical faculty members at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Twelve Penn State Hershey specialists were selected for more than one category.
The current listing, created by Best Doctors Inc., results from exhaustive polling of over 40,000 physicians in the United States. Doctors in more than 400 subspecialties of medicine appear on this year’s list. In a confidential review, current ‘best doctors’ answer the question, “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer?” Only those who earn the consensus support of their peers and meet additional research criteria are included on the list.
Best Doctors Inc. evaluates the review results, verifying licensure, certification and disciplinary actions. The experts that are part of the Best Doctors in America database provide the most advanced medical knowledge to patients with serious conditions.
Best Doctors' surveys are designed to mimic the informal peer-to-peer referral process that physicians themselves use to determine appropriate specialists for individual cases. Doctors cannot pay to be included in the database nor are they paid to be in the database. Doctors do not have to purchase anything to be included.
For a complete listing of the Penn State Hershey Medical Center providers named to the 2009 Best Doctors list, go to http://www.pennstatehershey.org or for more information visit http://www.bestdoctors.com/.