Selecting a primary care physician is one of the most important decisions you will ever make, and yet far too many of us give little thought to the selection of a primary care doctor.
Too often we select doctors solely on the recommendation of a friend, family member or co-worker. Others turn to the yellow pages in the telephone book and select the doctor who runs the largest ad, assuming the size of the ad must represent medical success.
While the above methods may be helpful in determining which doctors to consider for your primary care doctor the selection decision itself must be the result of gaining a thorough understanding of the doctor, his reputation, his affiliation with local hospitals, and his medical record.
The process begins by establishing a list of doctors you want to consider as your primary care provider. The list may include the recommendations of friends, doctors in the vicinity of your home or office, doctors who have degrees from prominent Medical schools, and/or doctors practicing in a special field for which you have a need or any qualification important to you.
Once the list is created pare it down by gathering additional information. Some of this initial investigation can by done by telephoning the doctor’s office and making general inquiries, such as:
Does this doctor accept my medical insurance?” Doctors frequently change the plans they accept and to be certain that you are getting up to date information this must be determined at the time you are selecting a doctor. Do not depend on a list of medical providers given by your health plan as this could well be out dated.
Another important question to ask is: “Is this doctor on the staff of a reputable hospital? And equally important: “Is the hospital which he serves included my health plan’s network of hospitals?” Many health plans today will only provide health insurance for healthcare provided in a designated network hospital. It would be huge mistake to select a primary care doctor who cannot practice in the hospital covered by your health plan.
Once you have determined hospital on which the doctor is on staff you can and should verify that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations accredits this hospital. You can check this on line at www.jcaho.org.
You should also determine if the doctor is board certified, this is public information and is available the American Board of Medical Specialties at www.abms.org
To gage the performance of the doctor you will need to know if the doctor has ever been disciplined by the state medical board, and if so, why? Do determine this you will need to call your state health department.
Once you have used the information above to narrow down the list of doctors under consideration make an appointment to see one or more of those remaining on the list. Use the appointment to interview the doctor about things that are important to you. For example, you may not prefer a doctor who frequently or over-prescribes antibiotics when a lesser drug will do. You may object to the excess scheduling of lab tests, or blood-work, x-rays, CAT scans or MRI’s as precautionary measures. If these things are important to you see how the doctor feels and reacts to your position.
In selecting a doctor it is very important that he or she is someone you like and are confident you can trust. If the doctor fails this test chances are you will not communicate with him or her and even fail to share important health concerns or symptoms. In the worse case you may even delay or avoid scheduling appointments.
There are far too many good doctors out there with whom you can relate and develop a healthy working trust between patient and doctor. It is worth the time and effort to structure your selection process to make it happen.
