Whether you are a public librarian or a medical librarian, chances are there have been times when a patron comes to you asking for help on choosing a "good" doctor or hospital. For some librarians little alarm bells start going off in their head, they go weak in the knees, and they start to wonder whether this is something that might be close crossing that similar line about recommending medical treatments. I have witnessed good reference librarians go bad when this type of question is posed.

So I was interested yesterday morning (July 12, 2006) on the Today Show when I saw a segment entitled "How to find the best doctor." I listened to Ann Curry interview John Connolly, former president of New York Medical College and co-founder of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. (a research and information company established to help people find the best healthcare, for a fee). Some interesting things that were mentioned. The majority of patients choose a doctor based on office location and perhaps some recommendations from friends. As Connolly said in the interview, people do more research on what movie they are going to see than selecting a doctor.

Of course I was trying to listen to this segment while dressing a squirming 3 year old for preschool. So when good ol' Ann said that all of the information and links mentioned in the segment would be listed on the Today Show web site, I thought oh good, no problem. Well guess what, the links are NOT on the Today Show website (a blunder that happens often with the Today Show and other news agencies, much to my frustration). However, the website does have the interview segment still on their website. It looks like they keep video segments on their website for about a week, so before the segment is replaced you can find the link on the Today Show Video page.

For anybody who is reading this post after the segement has disappeared, or you if can't view the segment because your hospital prohibits streaming video, I have listed the advice and resources mentioned and added a few more links on my own.

• Be an informed and assertive patient -http://www.ahcpr.gov/CONSUMER/qntascii/qntdr.htm
• Check for board certification -http://www.abms.org and http://www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm
• Check the doctor's experience - you want a doctor who has done the procedure a few times a week vs. a few times a year. - http://www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm (provides some information on a doctor's training), http://www.ahrq.gov, http://cms.hhs.gov, http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
• Check for any disciplinary actions- http://www.castleconnolly.com links to each state, I could find no way to search multiple states or the whole U.S. at one time, so if a doctor was sanction in New York but is now practicing in Florida (and you are in Florida) you won't know about the New York sanctions unless you search that state.
• Interview the doctor - get a feel for the doctor, if you don't feel comfortable and are reluctant to tell him/her things then you won't have a good health care partnership with them.
• Seek top hospitals - http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, U. S. News & World Report Best Hospitals http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hehome.htm

If your patron wants to pay for a service to find the best doctor and hospital, it also important to know that companies like Castle Connolly, MDNationwide, and HealthGrades charge consumers $9.99-$32.95 for information found on a lot of the same free resources listed above. It is also important to read the fine print on what exactly the user should expect to receive. For example: Castle Connolly does not provide information on primary care doctors (general internists, general pediatricians, general ob/gyn and Family Practice), which are some the doctors patients see the most often and who are on the front lines to first diagnose or suspect a particular condition.

It is important that librarian's know some of these resources so that we aren't blankly staring back at the patron. We can help them use these resources so that they can make an informed decision. Please feel free to add other links that are free and helpful to consumers who are searching for good doctors and hospitals.