How We Conducted our 2014 Top Doctors Survey

By Seattle Mag June 10, 2014

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This article originally appeared in the July 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.

!–paging_filter–pOur a href=”http://\/\/seattlemag.com/article/seattle-magazines-top-doctors-2014” target=”_blank”14th annual Top Doctors list/a is the result of more than nearly 13,000 nominations gathered through our comprehensive, controlled, peer-to-peer survey process. brbrThis year, for the first time, we expanded our health care provider list to include nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Always critical members of a health care team, these professionals are playing an ever expanding role in providing care to the millions of Americans who have insurance coverage and are accessing care (especially primary and preventive medicine), for the first time in the wake of the Affordable Care Act. While the nominations are still made by doctors, we wanted to expand our list to reflect these developments by including individuals whose work is judged to be exemplary. brbrData collection and evaluation was managed by Bellevue-based GMA Research, working in partnership with emSeattle /emmagazine and Seattle-based CHCS Internet Development. With more than 30 years of experience, GMA (a href=”http://www.gmaresearch.com” target=”_blank”gmaresearch.com/a) uses a multidisciplinary approach to provide research design, data collection, computer tabulation, analysis and reporting to clients, including many hospitals, medical centers and research facilities. Developing websites since 1994, CHCS (a href=”http://www.chcs.com” target=”_blank”chcs.com/a) works with a wide range of businesses and nonprofit organizations, including medical centers, health care organizations and biotech companies. brbrOur online survey was open to all licensed physicians in the region, from January 13 to February 7, 2014. The survey asked physicians to name the provider they would seek out or recommend to loved ones in 70 specialty areas, regardless of hospital, clinic or health plan affiliation. Several factors determined who appears on this list, including the number of nominations received by each physician, the area of specialty, the number of practitioners in the specialty, and vote and geographic distribution within each specialty of those nominated.brbrWe made our best effort to contact all providers on the list. They were asked to supply information regarding their education, where they practice, additional specialties and hospital affiliations. In some cases, the information was supplied by hospitals or clinics.brbrWe also checked with the Washington State Department of Health to make sure all the professionals listed were in good standing as we went to print (go to a href=”http://www.doh.wa.gov” target=”_blank”doh.wa.gov/a and click on “Provider Credential Search”). The doctors in this list have been nominated by their peers; Seattle magazine is not endorsing these doctors. Be sure to exercise due diligence in selecting a doctor: Visit Washington’s Department of Health (a href=”http://www.doh.wa.gov” target=”_blank”doh.wa.gov/a) for the most up-to-date information, including a health care provider’s license status and any restrictions or disciplinary actions. Please note: DOH records do not include malpractice settlements or criminal convictions, unless they resulted in an action. Another good place to learn about practitioners is on a href=”http://www.healthgrades.com” target=”_blank”Healthgrades.com/a.brbrWhile our list is comprehensive, it is not exhaustive. There are many well-qualified providers who are not included. Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected for and/or profiled in emSeattle /emmagazine’s Top Doctors.brbrbrstrongOur Top Doctors Advisory Panel/strongbrSeattle magazine thanks the members of its Top Doctors advisory panel, who agreed to share their insights and advice on medical trends and issues as we compiled this year’s Top Doctors issue. They also helped with nominations and the review of nominees for our Community Service Awards. Panel members do not review or influence the choice of doctors on the final list, and so they are eligible to be included on the list. Our advisory members are:brbrDr. Kim Abson, The PolyclinicbrDr. William P. Barrett, Valley Orthopedic AssociatesbrDr. Rocco Ciocca, Swedish Medical CenterbrDr. William DePaso, Virginia Mason Medical CenterbrDr. David Fisher, Seattle Children’s HospitalbrDr. Marc Mora, Group Health Cooperative brDr. Astrid Pujari, The Pujari CenterbrDr. Gregory Schroedel, UW Medicine/Northwest Hospital Medical Centerbrbrbrbr/p

 

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