DQOTD: Finding doctors (specialists)?

[audreyh1]

I once found a gynecologist by calling a large radiology group in town known for pioneering a certain procedure regionally and asking for a few names of who in town had done referrals to them.

 

[Aerides]

I can understand why some docs don't want to give referrals:

They don't know:
Who is in my plan (which is a moving target)
My willingness to drive 5 or 10 miles or whatever
The actual skill of the doctor other than reputation, word of mouth
The availability of that specialist for taking on a new case
etc.

And any time I've asked, these discussions add time to my appointment. Doc is ready to move to the next patient and now I want multiple names, and minutes more of their time, and half the people they give me aren't in my plan or aren't available for 12 weeks. It's so easy to figure things out online these days, it's almost a losing proposition for the PCP to spend that effort since I'm just gonna go google the Doc they recommend anyway.

 

[audreyh1]

Our PCP easily has someone to give us a referral to, and also happily gives referrals to a specialist of our choice - that was usually because it was someone we had seen before, which was before we were in an HMO gatekeeper situation.

 

[OldShooter]

I can understand why some docs don't want to give referrals:

They don't know:
Who is in my plan (which is a moving target)
My willingness to drive 5 or 10 miles or whatever
The actual skill of the doctor other than reputation, word of mouth
The availability of that specialist for taking on a new case
etc.

And any time I've asked, these discussions add time to my appointment. Doc is ready to move to the next patient and now I want multiple names, and minutes more of their time, and half the people they give me aren't in my plan or aren't available for 12 weeks. It's so easy to figure things out online these days, it's almost a losing proposition for the PCP to spend that effort since I'm just gonna go google the Doc they recommend anyway.

Probably it depends on the doc. YMMV etc. If I believed all those things about my doc, I would be looking for a new one. Partially because it’s a concierge situation, our appointments are scheduled for a hour so there is plenty of time to talk. PCP is in his 50s, so has plenty of direct patient referral experience with many docs plus of course reputations. Why would I not want to benefit from this?

 

[ShadowBloom]

I think I need an orthopedist…knee issues.

One additional consideration in choosing a doc: an orthopedist is not necessarily the right/best doc to see unless you know you plan surgery. You might be better off seeing either a sports medicine doctor or a physiatrist (pain medicine & rehabilitation doctor). Either can diagnose problems, refer you to physical therapy, and do non-surgical treatments. If you trust your PCP, they should be able to help you find the right kind of doc.

I'm having my own knee problems now, but since my PCP will only refer to the physiatrist in his practice, who I've seen for other issues and don't like much, I'm also on my own finding someone to see. Since I'm not at a point of considering surgery, I'm avoiding orthopedists, as they are a mainly surgical specialty.