Advertising 'rock star' docs? Proceed with care

More hospitals and large multispecialty groups are promoting their "top doctors" as patient magnets, but leadership and physicians alike must proceed with caution when advertising their best practitioners, according to an ethics column on the amednews.com website. Advertising tactics must be viewed with suspicion because the criteria for “top doctor” are often obscure—physicians might view a “rock star” doctor as one with the best training and outcomes, while a hospital may view the physician with the highest billing or most cash patients as the star, according to the column. “Although advertising invitations are flattering to the ego, the physician should question his or her motivation for accepting as well as the intent of the sponsoring entity,” it stated.

Source: American Medical News