The Search for the Right Physician

Some people schedule an appointment with their family physician. Others turn to a trusted friend or family member with medical expertise. Many more turn to the internet in hopes of finding a qualified doctor. In the U.S., there are over 600 million online searches for doctors every year, typically leading to directories like Healthgrades, WebMD, or US News.

However, these platforms often provide limited insights. They primarily focus on patient satisfaction ratings, which, while valuable, do not reflect clinical outcomes or procedural expertise. When it comes to serious conditions, selecting the right doctor is not just a matter of convenience—it can be the difference between a good outcome and a poor one.

The Right Doctor Can Save Your Time and Money

At first glance, relying on data like which conditions a doctor specializes in treating and patient outcomes may seem like a time-consuming process. But here’s the thing—it’s not. The time it takes to find the best physician on SelectDr is roughly the same as asking friends and sifting through opinions. It could be even faster.  

The right doctor—one with proven results in your area of need—can save you from months or even years of ineffective treatments and unnecessary expenses. 

The Importance of Specialist Expertise

As a GI surgeon, I readily admit that I am not an expert in every GI disease or treatment modality. When a close friend was recently diagnosed with achalasia—a disorder that severely impacts swallowing—I knew the standard surgical approach I specialize in, which involves a minimally invasive procedure with an overnight stay. However, he mentioned an alternative approach called POEM (Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy), which treats achalasia endoscopically. While I am familiar with POEM, I am not trained in this technique. Rather than offer him the procedure I was most comfortable with, I connected him with a specialist trained in POEM. He underwent the procedure, was discharged the next day, and is now thriving.

A core principle of medical training states:

A good surgeon knows how and when to operate, but a great surgeon knows when not to operate—or when to refer a patient to a better-qualified colleague.

Defining the Best Outcomes

What does every patient want from their medical treatment? First and foremost, an accurate diagnosis. While we have an abundance of diagnostic tools—from lab tests to CT and MRI scans—legendary physician Sir William Osler’s words still hold: Treat the patient, not the disease.

Once diagnosed, patients expect the best possible outcome—complete resolution of their condition with minimal complications and no recurrence. Is that too much to ask? Absolutely not.

Why Experience Matters

Patients place immense trust in their doctors, but unfortunately, that trust is sometimes misplaced. In the UK, where I trained, complex medical cases such as cancer and stroke care were legally required to be handled in designated centers of excellence. Moreover, surgical proficiency was monitored rigorously: I was required to perform at least 50 bariatric surgeries per year and report my outcomes to a national registry. For my cancer practice, I had to complete a minimum of 20 gastric resections annually.

Why does this matter? Because experience directly correlates with better outcomes.

Studies have consistently shown that higher surgical volumes lead to lower complication rates and better survival rates.

Researchers such as John Birkmeyer (Dartmouth) and Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins) have demonstrated that patients undergoing procedures like esophageal cancer resection or aortic aneurysm repair fare significantly better at high-volume centers with experienced surgeons.

Unfortunately, most patients remain unaware of this data. While some states maintain clinical data registries, very few make them mandatory or publicly accessible. Instead, patients rely on online doctor reviews that reflect bedside manner rather than procedural success rates.

The Learning Curve: The Doctor You Want

Surgical expertise is not instantaneous—it develops over time. Every procedure has a learning curve: it may take 20 cases to master a hernia repair, 100 for a gastric bypass, or 500 for a robotic prostatectomy. As surgeons perform more procedures, their outcomes improve—until they reach a plateau. The ideal surgeon is one who has reached the top of this learning curve.

Yet, patients are rarely informed that they are part of a surgeon’s learning curve. This lack of transparency is concerning.

The Volume Pledge: A Missed Opportunity

In 2015, leaders from Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, and the University of Michigan introduced the Volume Pledge, advocating for minimum procedure volumes for ten major surgeries—such as 40 lung resections or 50 knee replacements per year. As Dr. Ashish Jha, a leading health policy researcher, stated: We know that when patients receive these surgeries at low-volume institutions or from low-volume surgeons, they tend to fare worse.

Despite strong evidence supporting the initiative, the Volume Pledge failed. Surgeons resisted, arguing that clinical outcomes were more relevant than case volume, and hospitals struggled to enforce the mandate.

The Path Forward: How Patients Can Choose Wisely

Where does this leave patients? Often, back at square one—relying on recommendations from primary care doctors or friends with medical knowledge.

In The New Yorker, Atul Gawande shared his experience finding the best orthopedic surgeon for his mother’s knee replacement. But he posed an important question: What happens to those mothers who don’t have a son who is a Harvard Professor of Surgery?

Weekly, I receive calls from friends, colleagues, and acquaintances seeking recommendations for specialists—from pancreatic cancer experts in Boston to back surgeons in New York or neurologists in San Francisco. Thanks to my network, I can quickly provide guidance. While I never expect anything in return, I frequently receive heartfelt thank-you gifts, ranging from fine wine to gourmet cheese.

Bridging the Gap: The Need for a Better Solution

The demand for physician recommendations is evident—600 million online searches occur annually. The data exists—every medical visit, test, and procedure is logged and linked to a provider. And with smartphones in nearly every hand, accessing this information should be instant and effortless.

What’s missing is a technology-driven analytics platform that presents this data in a clear, consumer-friendly format, enabling patients to select the right doctor at the right facility for their specific needs.