There is not a single day that goes by during which we don't receive an email containing the line:

 "I am looking for the best Doctor in Germany." (our company manages inbound medical travel to Germany)

It is all too understandable why we are looking for the best doctor. After all, health is one of our most valuable assets.

However, there are several fundamental issues with the search for "The Best"

For one: How does one measure what is truly “The best”. Secondly: is what is the best for one, really the best for the other?

The first question (how do you measure what really is the best) already opens Pandora’s Box of possible answers:

Are we talking about the best surgical skills, the best diagnostic skills, graduation from a high profile medical school, the best treatment results, the smallest number of malpractice cases, the largest amount of published studies… the list goes on…

What defines “The Best?”

Purely from a language and grammar point of view, the best implies that someone or something is better than all of the rest. By definition of the word, there can only be one (doctor) who is the best.

How does one go about measuring who is the best doctor? To my knowledge, there is no institution or government body, who measures the quality of a doctor using validated procedures to evaluate and ensure quality (if I am mistaken, I am happy to be informed otherwise).

Essentially, a patient is on his/her own, when trying to find “the best doctor”.

Most of us don’t have the required background and knowledge how to evaluate the quality of work a medical doctor delivers. So we turn to so called proxies, or replacement measures, that should help us evaluate who the best doctor is. Searching the web on this subject you will find recommendations like: is the receptionist friendly, is the exam room clean, does the doctor look well groomed, does he/she have good bedside manners, is he friendly, does she take the time to answer questions?

Is this a list of qualities that make a good doctor… that make the best doctor?

As an example: We have a surgeon in our network who is perceived as arrogant and unfriendly by many of our patients, but his surgical results are far above average when compared to the results of others (yes, we do have that data). If I would require the type of surgery he performs, he would be my number one choice; and still, this does not make him the best doctor, in fact, due to his demeanor, he is often considered the opposite by our patients: a bad doctor.

Fact is: there are no best doctors – not in America, not in Germany, the UK, India or anywhere else in the world no matter what billboards, web pages, and glossy in-flight magazine adverts tell you.

There are however very many good ones. What makes a good doctor depends highly on the patient’s needs and expectations. This is different for everyone.

When my patients ask me for the best doctor, I usually ask them: what exactly are your needs? What are your expectations? The aim is to find a doctor that is right for the patient’s requirements.

Doing this can lead to a doctor/patient match that is so ideal the patient may just walk away feeling satisfied in having met the Best Doctor, after all.

Visit us to learn more about medical treatment in Germany

www.premier-healthcare.eu