February 7, 2003

"Best Doctor" List: Responding to questions

The February issue of Boston Magazine includes a list of some of the top doctors in the area. This year's list has prompted many questions from employees, patients, the media and others because so few MGH physicians were included compared with the number of doctors from other institutions.

After discussing the methodology of the survey with Doug Most, senior editor at Boston Magazine who coordinated the project, and talking with other hospitals, it appears that the dramatic differences may be attributed to survey techniques that varied from hospital to hospital.

Last November, Boston Magazine asked certain hospitals, including the MGH, to provide a list of 100 random physicians to whom the magazine could send a survey. The magazine sent other hospitals the actual survey letter and asked that their public affairs offices distribute it to physicians and encourage them to complete and return it to the magazine. Those hospitals that had an opportunity to distribute the form directly to their medical staffs had significantly higher representation than those who were asked to provide names to the magazine. While the magazine's survey methods may have been inconsistent, the physicians on the list represent the level of medical excellence that has long been the hallmark of the Boston area.

Seven outstanding MGH physicians are on this year's list. Gilbert Daniels, MD, and John Godine, MD, were named in endocrinology; Allen Pineda, MD, was listed in the family practice category but should have been included under internal medicine; Robert Hughes, MD, was named in internal medicine; and Esther Israel, MD, and Ronald Kleinman, MD, were listed in pediatric gastroenterology. MGH physician Harland Winter, MD, also was listed in pediatric gastroenterology, but his hospital affiliation was listed incorrectly.