Lehigh Valley, Pa. (Dec. 22, 2009) – Eight heart specialists who treat patients at Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) are included on the Best Doctors in America list for 2009-2010. They are James A. Burke, M.D., William G. Combs, M.D., David A. Cox, M.D., Ronald S. Freudenberger, M.D., J. Patrick Kleaveland, M.D., Normal Marcus, M.D., Joseph Neri, D.O., and Raymond L. Singer, M.D., and are among the 66 LVHN physicians in 30 specialties that appear on the list.
The Best Doctors in America list, created by Best Doctors, Inc., results from a confidential polling of physicians in the United States who are on the previous Best Doctors in America list. They are asked, “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer?”
Doctors in over 400 subspecialties of medicine appear on this year’s list, representing 50,000 doctors in the country. They are included on a database of experts made available to individuals through employee benefits plans and insurance programs.
Burke is associate chief of cardiology at LVHN and a member of Lehigh Valley Heart Specialists (LVHS); Combs is an interventional cardiologist at LVHN and member of The Heart Care Group (HCG); Cox is a member of LVHS, an interventional cardiologist and associate medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at LVHN; Freudenberger, is acting chair of cardiology at LVHN, medical director of LVHN’s Center for Advanced Heart Failure, and a member of LVHS; Kleaveland is medical director of the cardiac catheterization lab at LVH-Cedar Crest and an LVHS member; Marcus is an electrophysiologist and a member of HCG; Neri is a medical cardiologist and member of HCG; and Singer is a cardio-thoracic surgeon and member of Lehigh Valley Heart and Lung Surgeons.
Doctors cannot pay to be included on the Best Doctors list, nor are they paid to provide their input. The list results from validated peer review, in which doctors who excel in their specialties are chosen.
According to Best Doctors, Inc., the experts who are part of the Best Doctors database provide the most advanced medical knowledge to patients with serious conditions. In addition to cardiology and cardio-thoracic surgery, experts from LVHN named on the Best Doctors in America list practice in the following subspecialties: allergy and immunology, anesthesia, colon-rectal surgery, dermatology, endocrinology, family medicine, gastroenterology, hand surgery, hematology-oncology, infectious diseases, internal medicine, nephrology, neurology, neurosurgery, nuclear medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, physical medicine and rehab, plastic surgery, pediatrics, radiation oncology, radiology, rheumatology, surgical oncology, urology and vascular surgery.
Lehigh Valley Health Network includes three hospital facilities - two in Allentown and one in Bethlehem, Pa.; eight health centers caring for communities in four counties; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices throughout the region; pharmacy, imaging and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred. Specialty care includes trauma care at the region’s busiest, most-experienced trauma center treating adults and children, burn care at the regional Burn Center, kidney and pancreas transplants; perinatal/neonatal, cardiac, cancer, and neurology and complex neurosurgery capabilities including national certification as a Primary Stroke Center. Lehigh Valley Health Network has been recognized by US News & World Report for 14 consecutive years as one of America’s Best Hospitals and is a national Magnet hospital for excellence in nursing. Additional information is available at lvhn.org and by following us on facebook.com/LVHealthNetwork and twitter.com/LVHNnews.
