How Do You Search for a New Doctor?

[Car-Guy]

DW and I had both become frustrated with the GP we had been with for about 10 years due to her inability to hire and maintain competent office staff in her practice. We tired of having to call repeatedly to renew a prescription, get a referral, etc. Once I had to go to her office in person and insist they call in a prescription refill while I waited and listened to be sure it was done.

And all this time I thought we were the only ones seeing this.... Sorry it happening to "YOU TOO"!

 

[Aerides]

DW and I had both become frustrated with the GP we had been with for about 10 years due to her inability to hire and maintain competent office staff in her practice. We tired of having to call repeatedly to renew a prescription, get a referral, etc. Once I had to go to her office in person and insist they call in a prescription refill while I waited and listened to be sure it was done.

The office staff can often be the make-or-break with any doctor. I'm going to look for a new PCP later this year because of this. Meanwhile my ortho and cardio have lovely front office help, and it makes a huge difference.

Another deciding factor for me is how personable they are. Particularly with specialists and surgeons. Is that the person I want to see before I go under? Do I want them to be the ones talking with my family after I have surgery or something?

 

[Qs Laptop]

Here's a similar question: would you consider a PA or Nurse Practitioner rather than a doctor?

It depends on if it's general practice or a specialty. I'd rather see a PA or an NP for routine things, but I'd rather see an MD for other stuff like follow up on my cardio ablation procedure. I got a PA and while she was personable and all, but a lot of the time the answers to my question was, "I'll have to ask the doctor about that."

Currently, I'm suffering from recurrent UTI's and I'm no longer seeing the urologist, in fact, I haven't seen him since the the initial consult for BPH, only the PA, and I really haven't seen her other than a couple of phone conferences. Meanwhile, I had a follow up appointment with the PA set for early October (from treatment I received in July) but she couldn't make it as she was on maternity leave. So it was rescheduled for last Monday, Jan. 23rd. I couldn't make it because my furnace died and I had to be home for a tech service call, so it was rescheduled for mid-March. Yes, that's how busy they are. Treatment from July and not able to get a follow up until March!

So today I called her nurse and explained I think I had another UTI and could she get me on the list to give a urine sample at a nearby clinic. Results will be sent to the PA and I'll wait to see what I get for meds in yet another round of antibiotics.

 

[Ian S]

I've had good luck with PCPs who are D.O.'s - they've seemed willing to talk more and have given me good advice on specialists. With the shoulder issues I've had, I lucked out years ago having my small business across the hall from a physical therapist's office. He gave some great recommendations and when I need physical therapy, I went to him. I've been going to a P.A. for skin issues. She was recommended by my PCP and seems very good. Is it my imagination or are MD dermatologists more interested in body sculpting these days than checking for skin cancers?

I do remember one instance when I learned sometimes a doctor is best: I was having severe toe pain and the P.A. seemed a bit bewildered about what it could be. They called in another P.A. who seemed equally perplexed. At last they pulled in an MD (not my PCP) and as soon as he heard the symptoms, he said neuroma and set me up with my choice of either an orthopedic guy or podiatrist. I went with the latter who took care of the problem.

 

[Chuckanut]

I’ve seen four nurse practitioners and physicians assistants in my life. All have been very good. My PCP has been around for 30 years and he seems to provide good referrals. The dermatologist he recommended removed a cyst from my scalp very skillfully.

 

[Katsmeow]

Doctor Steve here.

As for the original question of how to choose a doctor, personal recommendations are best. Online rating and review services are essentially worthless. I wouldn't waste your time even looking at those. Ask your PCP. Ask any other specialists you already see. Ask friends and family, especially any who work in healthcare in the area. Ask coworkers. Ask at your house of worship. Anywhere where you have people who's opinions you value.

I mostly agree with this. Personal recommendations can be very good but those from non-medical people may be based upon things other than expertise. Sometimes individuals like someone with a good and personable bedside manner who maybe is not as competent as others. I do think that can be a starting point but I do more.

Which brings up review sites. I look at them primarily looking for commonalities. For example, I saw a retina doctor and read the reviews on him. Now, he was DH's doctor already so I knew he was happy with him. The review sites overall gave him a great rating, but a lot of people complained about excessive wait times in his office. And, you know what, that is exactly my only complaint about him. It is one I can live with. But, seeing that comment over and over again was very helpful.

One issue is when you move to an area where you don't know people. In some cases you can at least get a starting spot by asking on online local forums or groups (Nextdoor, for example) or local FB groups. I would never rely just on those but they can give some names of people to research. At that point, I do look up the qualifications of the doctor, verify licensing and look for anything negative.

 

[Chuckanut]

Nurses are a great source of information on doctors. Not perfect. I’ve known some really screwball nurses. But they see what happens behind the curtain.

 

[sengsational]

I agree that searching for a specialist by using healthgrades, or something like that, probably isn't going to get you very far. It would be nice if there was one, officially sanctioned resource that could have the gathered statistics (how many operations of what types performed, etc), but that's just a dream.

The point of my post here is that I didn't see mention of finding a group online of people with the same health issue. This is another "word of mouth" approach, but rather than poke around in the neighborhood groups, you see if you can find a group that has your same problem. As the seriousness of the condition increases, I expect the likelihood of a "medical condition group" rises. If the conversation is candid, there will probably be good information in such a group.

 

[Qs Laptop]

The point of my post here is that I didn't see mention of finding a group online of people with the same health issue. This is another "word of mouth" approach, but rather than poke around in the neighborhood groups, you see if you can find a group that has your same problem. As the seriousness of the condition increases, I expect the likelihood of a "medical condition group" rises. If the conversation is candid, there will probably be good information in such a group.

This is a great idea. Thank you.