Dr. Martin named as one of L.A.'s Best Doctors

The November 1996 issue of "Los Angeles Magazine" published, "The Essential Guide to L.A.'s Best Doctors."

See pages 123 and 126

INTERNAL MEDICINE:

Ralph B. Martin Huntington 818-792-4115

ADDICTION MEDICINE

Ralph B. Martin Huntington 818-792-4115

Below is the complete introductory text:

PHYSICIANS, Rate Thyselves:

L.A.'s top doctors answer the question: Who would you trust with the life of a loved one?

There remains a bit of mystery about what distinguishes a truly great doctor from the merely adequate. The Woodward/ White consulting firm, in compiling its first-ever Pacific-region listing of the The Best Doctors in America, respected that imponderable.

It began by asking 1,200 doctors who had made the 1994-1995 national edition to vote on physicians in their area of expertise. Criteria for judging professional excellence were not specified; the doctors were simply asked: "If a friend or loved one came to you with a medical problem and you could not handle their case, to whom would you send them?"

Those responses led to a two-year process of nominating and narrowing. Authors Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, along with a staff of fifteen editors, conducted more than 7,000 phone interviews and mailed more than 10,000 letters before coming up with a consensus list of 4,459 finalist, from which we've drawn the best doctors in Los Angeles.

Happily, medical talent has clustered in Los Angeles, thanks to a superb group of teaching hospitals and other specialized care centers. An extraordinary number of the best doctors are associated with UCLA Medical Center, recently rated among the country's four best hospitals in an annual U.S. News & World Report survey. But there are also outstanding physicians in the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Santa Monica, the South Bay and elsewhere in the region.

We've arranged doctors by their specialties and have included primary care physicians. Pathologists and anesthesiologist are not listed, because patients seldom choose them directly. Entries include areas of specialization (though doctors are not limited to those areas), a primary hospital affiliation or practice location and phone number. A hospital directory can be found on page 136.

It's best to have your doctor make the initial call to a specialist on this list; many are extremely busy, and almost all will want to talk to your primary physician first. Unfortunately, HMOs and managed care arrangements make it difficult for many patients to reach out to a specialist: your a number of the doctors listed here are on the approved rosters of some health care organizations.

These lists are adapted from The Best Doctors in America: Pacific Region 1996-1997. Published by Woodward/ White Inc., of Aiken, South Carolina. Copies of the full national or regional reports, edited by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith can be ordered from the publisher by phone (803-648-0300), by mail (129 First Avenue S.W., Aiken SC 29801) or through the Web (http://www.bestdoctors.com). For a fee, Woodward/White also undertakes specialized physician searches.

"Los Angeles Magazine" is published by "One of the Capital Cities/ ABC Publishing Companies; Diversified Publishing Group.