HealthScope® Top Doctors 2026

Castle Connolly is a trusted and credible healthcare research and information company with over 30 years of experience researching, reviewing, and selecting best-in-class healthcare providers and institutions. Its mission is to help people find the best healthcare by connecting patients with top-tier providers.

Castle Connolly employs a rigorous team of researchers to select top healthcare professionals on both the national and regional levels.

The Top Doctor selection process is based on peer-to-peer nominations, open to all licensed physicians in the United States, allowing them to nominate peers in any specialty and region. The research team then thoroughly vets each nominee’s professional qualifications, including: education, professional reputation, research leadership, hospital and faculty appointments, disciplinary history, and outcomes data. Interpersonal skills such as listening, communicating effectively, demonstrating empathy, and instilling trust and confidence are also considered.

Rising Stars are specifically identified as early career doctors who are emerging leaders in the medical community.

The Castle Connolly Doctor Directory is the nation’s largest network of peer-nominated doctors.

Castle Connolly is part of Everyday Health Group, a recognized leader in patient and provider education, attracting an engaged audience of over 60 million health consumers and over 890,000 U.S. practicing physicians and clinicians. Its mission is to drive better clinical and health outcomes through decision-making informed by highly relevant information, data, and analytics. The organization empowers healthcare providers and consumers with trusted content and services.