It’s mainly because of too much politicking:
What’s so bad about this sort of thing? After all, Who’s Who and its progeny operate a similar scam. I would argue, though, that by adopting the guidebook approach, Best Doctors (or Best Lawyers or Best Dentists) fails the public by making a false promise. The real problem at hand – how do you find a reliable professional whose services you very much need – can’t be solved as readily as picking a restaurant or health club. You can’t run a Zagat-style survey and get worthwhile results. Nor can you pay people to crash the car and then rate the product. The Best Doctors approach – asking other doctors to name the colleagues they trust enough to send a family member to – sounds like it ought to work. But it doesn’t.To begin with, the list is heavily influenced by backslapping, back-stabbing, and old-fashioned old-boyism. Powerful medical departments are too generously represented while oddball offices or people are gone with the wind. Even if that weren’t the case, however, the list would be mostly useless.
(via KidneyNotes)
