Castle Connolly

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Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. is a healthcare research, information and publishing company. It targets the same consumers as companies like MDNationwide, HealthGrades, and Best Doctors, Inc., as well as medical insurance providers, who offer similar information online for consumers who want help locating first-rate hospitals and doctors. Located in New York City^[1] and founded in 1991^[2] by a former medical college board chairman and its former president^[3], it finds and names those who are believed to be representative of America's top doctors and the hospitals in which they practice. Its tagline is "America’s trusted source for identifying top doctors."^[4] Castle Connolly's survey and research process, under a physician-led team, involves tens of thousands of doctors and the medical leadership of hospitals around the nation.

As a result, consumers can locate doctors considered to be regionally and/or nationally outstanding, with detailed information about their education, training and special expertise in Castle Connolly’s various “Top Doctor” publications. The research process requires a complete review of the credentials, licensing and disciplinary history of all doctors nominated for inclusion in the guides.^[5]

1 History
2 Products
3 Nomination Process
4 Employees
5 National Physician of the Year Awards
6 Affiliates
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Since 1991, Castle Connolly has provided consumers with healthcare research and information in the form of guide books, magazine features, television appearances, radio interviews and online databases. Founded by John K. Castle, and John J. Connolly, Ed.D., who previously held the positions of Chairman of the Board and President/CEO, respectively, at New York Medical College.^[6]

[edit] Products

Castle Connolly has published more than 50 books. The main publications are America’s Top Doctors^[7] (now in its 7th edition), America’s Top Doctors for Cancer^[8] (now in its 3rd edition) and Top Doctors: New York Metro Area^[9] (now in its 11th edition).

A one-year premium membership to the online database of more than 21,000 of the top specialists costs $24.95.^[10] The retail list price for the paperback versions of America’s Top Doctors (7th Edition) and America’s Top Doctors for Cancer (3rd Edition) is $29.95^[11]^[12]. Top Doctors: New York Metro Area (11th Edition) retails for $24.95^[13].

Castle Connolly is also a partner for “top doctors” features in national magazines^[14], including Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Men’s Health, Town & Country, and Bottom Line Health, as well as for regional magazines, including New York, Chicago^[15], Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, GulfShore Life, Westchester, Memphis, CORE (Denver), Atlanta, Nashville Lifestyles, Northern Ohio Live, Oklahoma, Palm Springs Life, and Northern Virginia Live.

[edit] Nomination Process

The evaluation process begins with the identification of a selected pool of board-certified physicians from the total number of doctors practicing in a given area. These randomly selected doctors receive letters inviting them to go online to a special website to enter nominations of other physicians whom they feel are clinically outstanding, both on the regional and national level. Also, Castle Connolly solicits nominations from hospital Presidents, Vice Presidents of Medical Affairs or the equivalent position; Chiefs of Service in Neurology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Ob/Gyn, Medicine, Pediatrics, Otolaryngology, Radiology and Surgery. Included hospitals – numbering 1,500+ across the U.S. – are major medical centers, teaching hospitals, specialty hospitals, and regional hospitals/medical centers.

Each physician invited to nominate other doctors is given an anonymous and confidential opportunity to nominate outstanding physicians in various specialties and sub-specialties. Nominations are sought not only for those who excel in academic medicine and research but also those physicians who exhibit excellence in patient care. In addition to professional qualifications, it is suggested that nominating physicians consider interpersonal characteristics when proposing a physician for inclusion in a Castle Connolly guide.

During this phase of the selection process, the Castle Connolly research staff also conducts extensive interviews by telephone with leading physicians, specialists, chiefs of service and healthcare executives to strengthen the information-gathering processes.

Castle Connolly considers the following to determine physician eligibility for inclusion in its guides: professional qualifications: education, residency, board certification, fellowships; professional reputation; hospital appointment, medical school faculty appointment, experience and disciplinary history.

The Castle Connolly physician-led research staff reviews and refines the pool of nominated physicians in a region, validates nominations, and verifies credentials. This results in the development of a preliminary list of physicians. Each provisionally selected physician is then asked to complete a comprehensive professional biography form. The information contained in the biographical forms becomes an integral part of a selected physician's guide listing.

The last phase of the process refines the list of provisionally selected doctors by cross-referencing their names against a variety of databases providing confirmation of: board certification, licensing, and disciplinary history. Physicians ultimately selected for inclusion receive formal notification of their nomination for listing upon completion of the final confirmation of their professional credentials.

Physicians selected for inclusion as a Castle Connolly "Top Doctor" may appear in one of Castle Connolly's national “top doctors” guides, such as America's Top Doctors or America's Top Doctors for Cancer; in a regional top doctors guide, such as Top Doctors: New York Metro Area; in a national or regional magazine that partners with Castle Connolly to create a “top doctors” feature article^[16]; and/or online on its website, specifically as a regional top doctor in an area in which there is no print publication.

[edit] Employees

John K. Castle, Chairman and Co-Publisher of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., served as Chairman of the Board of New York Medical College for eleven years, and its Board of Trustees for twenty-two years. He has performed duties as a public commissioner on the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for five years. Five different hospitals in the metropolitan New York region have called him a trustee, including New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he continues to serve.

John J. Connolly, Ed.D, President & CEO of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., served as President of New York Medical College for more than a decade. He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, a Director of the New York Business Group on Health, a member of the President’s Council of the United Hospital Fund, and a member of the Board of Advisors of Funding First, a Lasker Foundation initiative.

In addition to the company’s founders, executive members of the management team include Jean Morgan, M.D., Vice President, Chief Medical & Research Officer and William Liss-Levinson, Ph.D., VP, Chief Strategy & Operations Officer.^[17]

[edit] National Physician of the Year Awards

Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. created the Castle Connolly National Physician of the Year Awards.^[18] They hosted their second annual National Physician of the Year Awards Dinner on March 13, 2007 at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, New York.^[19] The 2006 dinner was held on March 15 at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan, New York. Each year they honor physicians for Clinical Excellence and Lifetime Achievement. They also honor a non-physician for National Health Leadership.

The past Clinical Excellence honorees have included:^[20]^[21]

• Bart Barlogie, M.D.- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
• Marilyn J. Bull, M.D.- Riley Hospital for Children
• Delos M. Cosgrove, M.D. – The Cleveland Clinic
• Joseph McCarthy, M.D.- NYU Medical Center
• Patrick Walsh, M.D.- The Johns Hopkins Hospital
• Michael J. Zinner, M.D. – Harvard Medical School

The past Lifetime Achievement honorees have included:^[22]^[23]

• Michael E. DeBakey, M.D. – Baylor College of Medicine
• Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, M.D.- St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children (Philadelphia)

The past National Lifetime Leadership honorees have included:^[24]^[25]

• The Honorable Nancy G. Brinker, Founder of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure
• Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, President of the Alzheimer’s Disease International

[edit] Affiliates

Castle Connolly has also developed extensive business relationships with various companies to provide their information on top doctors to these partners’ clients – be they consumers or other businesses. Among these partners are Trio Health, Access Medical, Empowered Medical, MDRx Financial, DrScore.com, Strenuus, LLC, DoctorEvidence.com, BML MedRecord Alert, bWell International, Vitals.com and QuantiaMD