The most important thing you can do to assure yourself high-quality medical care is to form a strong relationship with a good primary care physician and, at times, together make informed decisions on specialty care. We identify top area doctors.

Once you have identified doctors who are potential candidates, you may want to get answers to several questions about each. Here’s a list of things to ask.

Whichever doctor you select, how you interact with the doctor will have a big effect on the success of your care. Here are some suggestions on how to get the best care from doctors.

Our ratings tables will help you find area shops that offer top-quality shoe repairs at reasonable prices.

Talk with top-rated shops about whether repairs make sense, how well the job can be done, and how long the shoes are likely to last. You may find there are several ways to solve your problem—at substantially different costs.

There are a few basic steps to follow in dealing with whatever shop you choose.