Word: rating
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Doctors like few things better than exchanging anecdotes about the deficiencies or skills of their colleagues. But most would rather give up their stethoscopes than publicly compare the relative abilities of their fellow physicians. Now, though, an enterprising medical writer, John Pekkanen, has enticed hundreds of doctors to rate some of their own. His new book, The Best Doctors in the U.S. (Seaview Books; $10.95), lists 2,500 of the nation's top specialists, judged so by their peers...
Pekkanen embarked on this two-year project with a personal sense of need. Because of a congenital heart defect, he has been plagued for much of his life with health problems that require medical attention. But, he says, " felt I had often been steered to second-rate people." Seeking the best, Pekkanen mailed out questionnaires to 500 specialists, tallied the more than 300 replies, then conducted follow-up telephone or personal interviews. The key question asked each physician: "If you or a member of your family were ill with a problem in your own specialty, whom would...
...there an opera house in the world that boasts a better orchestra than Vienna's? Whether in the iridescent pulsations of Salome or the silky, intimate lyricism of Figaro, or the architectural sweep of Fidelio, the orchestra played like a first-rate symphonic ensemble - which, of course, is what it is. When not in the opera pit, it is the renowned Vienna Philharmonic. With Bernstein again on the podium, it excelled last week in a highly dramatic, virtuoso performance of Beethoven's Ninth. Bernstein tended to heighten what needed no heightening, but by the time the final movement...
...drop the guide out of the guidelines. In the course of courting labor's support in the 1980 election, the Administration has drifted toward accepting the union position that the pay ceilings need more "flexibility." Says Labor Secretary Ray Marshall: "With inflation barreling along at its current rate, the old guidelines are clearly untenable." A top Administration aide confided last week: "It would be unreal to expect labor to accept continuation of a program that was successful in holding down wages but a disaster in holding down prices." And one official on the COWPS, which administers the standards, sheepishly...
...abandonment of a firm pay guideline, if it occurs, would have broad implications for the economy, which is now delicately poised between two perils: even more inflation and deeper recession. Fresh harbingers of both of these threats appeared last week. The unemployment rate, which had dipped unexpectedly to 5.8% in September, returned to 6% last month-a sign of a softening economy. But other figures showed business continuing to perk along despite attempts to dampen inflation by curbing growth. Prices charged by wholesalers rose another 1% in October, while the index of "leading" indicators, which is supposed to foreshadow future...