To determine excellence, you should consider the following criteria:
· EXPERIENCE
· CREDENTIALS
· SPECIALTIES/RANGE OF SERVICES
· RESEARCH
· PATIENT SATISFACTION
· OUTCOMES
How do you judge EXPERIENCE?
1. Experience and expertise often go hand in hand. The experience physicians have in treating particular conditions indicates how well you may do under their care, especially when you have a complex illness which requires sophisticated treatment. Observe the number of procedures performed on a particular condition; the more procedures performed the better the outcome is likely.
2. Check the mortality rate as well, but be aware that with tertiary (third level) care, the mortality rate cannot be a sole success indicator as patients are in a more critical stage.
How do you judge CREDENTIALS?
1. Board certification is a good quality indicator. Board certified physicians have completed the additional training required by a specialty board, have practiced for a specified period of time, and then passed a high level examination.
2. Note whether your specialist is an academic physician. Specialists who train other physicians are usually at the top in their field. Typically they also have access to the latest technology and techniques.
3. You may also wish to check your physician’s status in comparison to peers nationally by referencing objective rankings, such as the annual list published by US News & World Report.
What are the SPECIALTIES, and what is RANGE OF SERVICES?
1. Academic medical centers offer the added benefit of a multi-disciplinary approach to medicine. Dozens of specialists collaborate with each other, as well as dentists, nurses, psychologists, social workers and other health professionals to provide completely integrated care.
2. Often specialties are organized around a particular disease or patient category. This “team approach” to patient care pools knowledge, research and clinical findings to deliver the latest and greatest in diagnostic and treatment options.
Is access to RESEARCH available, and why is this important?
1. Physicians associated or involved with current research trials can provide state-of-the-art treatment and medications. This positions them to practice high tech medicine and maintain continual access to the latest information that research offers.
How do you measure PATIENT SATISFACTION?
1. Ask for satisfaction survey data; this information can help you predict what kind of experience you are likely to have with regards to the more personal side of the experience, including things like “bedside manner,” nursing and administrative staff and office systems and procedure.
What do OUTCOME statistics tell you?
1. Mortality statistics are difficult to judge unless the comparisons are accurate. Tertiary (third level) medical centers deal mostly with seriously ill patients and the mortality rate will be greater than with a regular hospital. However, risks may be reduced by choosing a hospital with a comparatively lower mortality rate and/or a higher long-term survival or success rate.
2. Ask your doctor for information regarding infection rates, repeat procedures, age and multiple procedures. Be sure to compare morbidity (rate of incidence with a disease) or mortality rates with patients who are most like yourself (e.g. a diabetic patient undergoing bypass surgery vs. a non-diabetic undergoing bypass surgery).