U.S. News & World Report last week released a list of the "Top Doctors" in the United States.

Created in collaboration with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., the list features nearly 30,000 peer-nominated physicians across a wide range of specialties. Any licensed physician in the United States could nominate up to 10 physicians in their specialty and up to three per specialty in other specialties. Each nominated physician then was evaluated by a physician-led research team.

Consumers can search the final list online by specialty, hospital affiliation, and location. They now also can search for top physicians at hospitals featured on U.S. News' "Best Hospitals" list.

According to U.S. News, the "Top Doctors" list was created to help consumers identify physicians who best meet their needs and encourage physicians to recognize their colleagues who are "most worthy of referral." According to Castle Connolly's president and CEO, "Given the unsettled future of the delivery and financing of health care and the changing nature of physician practices, it is critical that consumers have trusted sources of high-quality information about both doctors and hospitals."

The CEO of University of Louisville Physicians, which had 23 physicians on this year's list, said, "We've known [our physicians] were top doctors for some time now. It's terrific to have that fact recognized by others as well." The physician-in-chief of Texas Children's Hospital and pediatrics chair at Baylor College of Medicine noted that, "We strive every day to achieve the highest quality and best outcomes for the children and families we serve. This 'Top Doctors' list affirms the commitment to excellence we expect of our entire medical staff." Altogether, 76 Baylor and Texas Children's physicians were included on the "Top Doctors" list (Harder/Comarow, U.S. News, 7/18; U.S. News release, 7/26; U of L Physicians release, 8/1; Texas Children's Hospital release, 8/1).