Ohio State’s doctors won big in a peer review of American physicians last month.

Best Doctors Inc. sent out 31,000 surveys to American medical practitioners in varying areas of specialization. When Best Doctors tabulated the results in late January, 150 of OSU’s doctors made the list, and 75 percent of the list’s Central Ohio doctors work at OSU and its affiliated hospitals. Some of the current crop of winners were voted to the list in past years as well.

“(The list) says something very positive about the quality of care here and underscores the level of skill at Ohio State,” said Clay Marsh, director of pulmonary and critical care at the Ohio State University Medical Center. “We’re very proud of the faculty.”

The idea behind the annual poll is to create a Consumer Reports-style list to provide the public with objective insight on which doctors are the nation’s elite, Marsh said. After the peer review, the list is more closely examined and personal records are individually checked to make sure only the highest-quality physicians make the final cut.

“It is an honor for Ohio State to have so many faculty members included on the list, and it’s a special privilege for them to have the confidence of their peers from across the country,” said Fred Sanfilippo, CEO of the medical center.

The best part of the poll is that doctors are being chosen by the most qualified voters – themselves, said Michael Para, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases.

“It’s an honor always to be recognized by your peers, who are most knowledgeable about exactly what you do,” Para said.

Para also said that OSU’s doctors scored such high marks in the poll in part because of the level of specialization a large facility like OSU can provide.

“We teach and research about narrow areas… which makes more expert, more experienced doctors,” Para said.

Sanfilippo addressed the medical community last week in his annual “State of the Medical Center” address, which highlighted the financial growth of the center and the success of the center’s research progress.

Para said that Sanfilippo’s emphasis on both advanced research and the best clinical care helped the rising quality of the medical center receive notice.

“He’s a very visionary leader,” said Gail Marsh, chief strategy officer of the medical center. “We’ve already had people from other medical centers come in and take a look at ours. It’s fun to be on the leading edge. We don’t have to wait for people to discover something here – we discover it ourselves.”