Editor's Letter for July 2010

Tell Us Where it Hurts!

Steven Biller

If you need a doctor, particularly a specialist, you want a referral from a trusted friend. This is why Palm Springs Life, for the sixth consecutive year, has partnered with New York-based Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. to present our annual Top Doctors issue.

“Our Top Doctors” offers the Coachella Valley’s most reliable independent study of physicians — a short list you can trust for superior care. We selected Castle Connolly after a thorough review of firms that produce these studies — and after gleaning the experiences of other magazines that employ them.

This firm rose to the top for its integrity in its qualification process and survey methodology. Seven months ago, its physician-led team of researchers began surveying more than 1,300 board-certified area physicians, with an emphasis on the three major hospitals: Desert Regional Medical Center, Eisenhower Medical Center, and John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital. Using mail and telephone surveys and electronic forms, physicians and medical leaders identified highly skilled, exceptional doctors. Their nominations triggered a stringent qualification process that is at once quantitative and qualitative.

Doctors cannot pay to be selected.

We expand the reach of our Top Doctors feature through the “Palm Springs Life Top Doctors Show,” appearing twice daily throughout July (7:30-8 a.m. and 10-10:30 p.m.) and twice weekly from November through April 2011 (Wednesdays, 7:30-8 a.m., and Thursdays, 7-7:30 p.m.) on Time Warner Cable Channel 4. The show will also stream 24/7 at www.palmspringslife.com.

Physicians selected for this feature may also appear as regional top doctors at www.castleconnolly.com, or in one of Castle Connolly’s guides, such as “America’s Top Doctors” or “America’s Top Doctors for Cancer.”

There are many more excellent physicians than the 74 we present in this issue, but we had to draw the line somewhere. If you’re satisfied with your physicians, stick with them. But if you need a referral for a specialist, our feature offers a good place to start. We hope you find the study informative and valuable

Here’s to your good health!