Health Care Quarterly: Top Doctors 2016

Any time you have the chance to make more educated decisions about you or your family’s health, you should take advantage of it.

Health Care Quarterly is proud to bring you its 2016 Top Doctors. We’ve done the research and legwork, mailing surveys to almost 4,000 doctors and medical professionals in Southern Nevada. What follows on these pages are the names of specialists who have been recommended by their peers.

What was the survey?

It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for you to ask your general practitioner for a referral to another doctor. To compile this list, we did that thousands of times. We invited doctors to fill out a confidential survey, asking for their recommendations in the specialties we listed. Our logic: Local doctors are the most qualified to judge other medical professionals in Southern Nevada. It was not necessary for the respondents to offer a name in each specialty.

Who got the survey?

We got our list of names from the Nevada State Medical Board and the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine. Doctors who have a Southern Nevada mailing address on file with either of those agencies received a survey earlier this year.

So, is this a list of every doctor who was nominated?

No. Not every doctor who was nominated is listed here. This is a list of doctors who were nominated multiple times. The list was then checked against records with state medical boards, to ensure that all are in good standing.

Why isn’t my doctor listed?

This list is by no means a complete one; there are many excellent doctors in Southern Nevada, and there are many different ways to define a “top doctor.” If you like your doctor, you should probably continue seeing him or her. This list is merely one tool that you can use to help guide your decisions.

Does that mean this list is nothing but a popularity contest?

We encourage the doctors to give some thought to their answers, but we have no way of enforcing it. Doctors will answer with the names of the colleagues they know and trust. Doctors who have been in the community longer and who have more established practices may have received more nominations because they have better name recognition. We believe that the volume of respondents helps cancel out any politics that influenced their answers.

Why are some medical specialties left off the list?

This is our sixth annual list of “Top Doctors,” and it’s still evolving. We’re always happy to hear suggestions about how to refine the process. Still, we occasionally encounter specialties that don’t work within the framework of our methodology. Take emergency room physicians, for instance. While we understand that you want the finest doctor possible, our survey is based on answering the question “Doctor, whom would you recommend I see?” It’s a question that makes sense for the majority of medical situations, but not when going to an emergency room.

In no way should it be considered a slight against the people who have to move fast to save lives on a daily basis.

Tell the truth: Did doctors pay to be included in the list?

Nope. Doctors did not pay to be mentioned. After the list is compiled by the editorial team, sales begins its job. Doctors may choose to advertise, but that has no bearing on the list.

What about the profiles in the section? How were those doctors chosen?

In the ensuing pages, you’ll see Q&As with a few doctors. Their names were chosen randomly by the editorial team. We invited many doctors to participate; not all chose to. At the end of the Top Doctors section you’ll find some Medical Profiles. Those profiles are paid for and are a common feature in Health Care Quarterly.