Health Insurance and Choosing a Doctor
photo credit: contraptionChoosing a doctor might be one of the most important health decisions you make this year. It is one you should confident, informed and content making, because your doctor will be holding the key to your health in his or her hands. Whether you have an HMO that dictates which pool of doctors you can choose from, or if you are someone without health insurance shopping around to find the best doctor to fit your life and budget, there is so much to sort through. Male or female? What was their education like? What is their specialty? These questions and many more can leave your head spinning, so the following is meant to serve as s guide to help you choose the doctor that will leave you feeling relaxed enough to take a nap on the exam table.
Start with Your Resources
To begin, let’s assume that you’re one of the fortunate souls who has a health insurance plan. This often helps narrow things down (but can also be limiting, which we will touch on in a minute), as most health care providers have specific doctors and clinics that they work with, and you need to pick someone from their pre-qualified list. If you are without health insurance, please do not go the random route and just point to a doctor in the yellow pages. Ask around! Ask everyone you know about their doctor and how they like them. Check review sites like http://www.ratemds.com/social/ and http://www.vitals.com/ Think of them like the Yelp or Citysearch for MD’s.
Doctor Checklist: What Are You Looking For?
Now begins the real legwork: figuring out what you are looking for in a doctor. If you are a woman, consider how you feel about having a male OBGYN. If that makes you uncomfortable, seek out a female physician. If you are hoping to get pregnant sometime soon but don’t want to switch doctors once your baby is grown, consider a physician in family medicine as well as obstetrics. The following is a good set of question to ask when you are ready to begin talking to and interviewing doctors:
- Is the doctor willing to treat all of your family members?
- Is the doctor covered by your insurance plan? If you don’t have an insurance plan, what would your costs be?
- Does the doctor give care during pregnancy and do they perform deliveries?
- Does the doctor have special staff privileges at a local hospital?
- Does the doctor perform surgeries? If they do, what types?
- How encouraging is the doctor of preventative medicine measure, like regular check-ups, regular immunizations and follow-up testing?
- Will the doctor make emergency house calls?
- Does the doctor have convenient office hours for you and your family’s schedule?
- What arrangements does the doctor have for when they are unavailable?
- Where is the doctor certified?
Scoping the Scene
Now that you’ve narrowed down your list of doctoral candidates and know what you would like to learn about them, call their offices and ask if you can set up a visit and an interview. Some doctors may not accommodate this, some will, and if you have health insurance, some may charge some type of co-pay for the doctor’s time.
If you can’t meet with the doctor personally, ask if you can still come and check out the facility. It is clean? Well organized? Are the staff friendly and helpful? Just using your senses to assess the doctor’s office can tell you a lot about what type of physician they might be.
Once you have armed yourself with all the information you can, take time in making your decision. Unless you are in dire need of medical attention (in that case, that’s what emergency rooms are for), really look through all of your notes and research. If you got to meet with a doctor, remember how you felt interacting with them, if they made you feel at ease. You want to be confident in your physician, so trust your instincts and go with the doctor you feel will give you and your family the best care possible.
Tags: choosing a physician, doctor, health care, health insurance, medical treatment, tips
October 15th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Is Dr. George Bisbee in Santa Rosa, CA. with UHC? Thank you.