OT how to choose a doctor

may seem a very odd question, but the situation in the UK is you might have
a choice of which surgery you register at, but then you just get the doctor
you are given. I've been lucky in that the doctor I've had since I was 18
has been excellent.

We will be in Seattle for a week in early August and are considering trying
to find a doctor at that stage as with current health troubles for me we'll
need one fairly fast when we get there, so it seems better to have at least
some idea in advance.

But I have not one clue about how primary care works in the US. Presumably
you do have generalists, but I'm not sure what you call them, but I seem to
have picked up that they only do the adults and you'd register the children
separately at a pediatrician? Here, we all have the same doctor, which is
very convenient for us.

I think I know what questions to ask when I get to the point of determining
do I want this person to be our doctor, it's just how do I actually get to
that point? Should I ring round some surgeries (clinics?) asking some basic
questions and then visit the preferred one? I literally have no idea!

Cheers

Anne

Anne Rogers wrote:
may seem a very odd question, but the situation in the UK is you might have
a choice of which surgery you register at, but then you just get the doctor
you are given. I've been lucky in that the doctor I've had since I was 18
has been excellent.

We will be in Seattle for a week in early August and are considering trying
to find a doctor at that stage as with current health troubles for me we'll
need one fairly fast when we get there, so it seems better to have at least
some idea in advance.

But I have not one clue about how primary care works in the US. Presumably
you do have generalists, but I'm not sure what you call them, but I seem to
have picked up that they only do the adults and you'd register the children
separately at a pediatrician? Here, we all have the same doctor, which is
very convenient for us.

I think I know what questions to ask when I get to the point of determining
do I want this person to be our doctor, it's just how do I actually get to
that point? Should I ring round some surgeries (clinics?) asking some basic
questions and then visit the preferred one? I literally have no idea!

Step one is to figure out your insurance. Unless you have
a traditional indemnity program, your insurance will likely
have a list of in network providers, so that's where you
start. Most insurers will have a website with a list of
in network primary care physicians (and they'll usually list
whether or not they're taking new patients).

Primary care physicians usually have their specialty
listed as internal medicine, family practitioner,
pediatrician (for the kids), or maybe general practitioner.
A family practitioner will see the whole family, though
some will limit their practice to adults and children
over a certain age. Odds are pretty good that you can
find a family practitioner if you want one. Some family
practitioners also do obstetrics, but some will refer
you out to a midwife or OB for care during pregnancy.

Once you have an idea which doctors or practices you
want to interview, call and ask for a consultation
appointment. These are usually done free of charge,
but you are at the end of the line scheduling wise,
so it might be a challenge to get several consults
scheduled within a single week that's coming up so
quickly. Still, it never hurts to try. You can
also ask the receptionist if they have any information
you can pick up or a website you can look at.
They will all likely have information about hours
and basic policies. Some will also have a practice
philosophy statement that might be of use to you.
Getting statistics is more challenging, if that's
what you're looking for.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Anne Rogers writes:

: But I have not one clue about how primary care works in the US.

Well, the first thing is that it is not monolithic!

My health insurance is provide by my employer through a PPO.

What this means is that there a a number of doctors and clinics that
they contract with. If I choose one of these doctors, I get care for
a small fixed rate, usually $15 for general practice, and $30 for
specialists. If I choose to go to a doctor "out of network" (not one
of the contracted doctors, I have to pay 30% of the billed fees ( a lot
more at the rates charged).

There are a lot of ways to find doctors. My health provider has a
website with all the contracting physicians in it. I can ask for
all of the contracted physicians with a paticular specialty within
so many miles of a location. (Example: All ENTs within 20 miles of
San Jose, CA).

You could also use the phone book yellow pages, ask a friend, or
walk up to someone on the street. Of course, you might have to ask
them if they are contracted with your provider.

That is the basics. If you have further quetions, let me know,
Larry

From what I've read I got the impression we can use whoever we want, they
don't restrict it to a list, but I'll double check.

There is a list of covered providers, it's a large portion of the doctors in
the area though. You need to make sure it's a doctor in network. You don't
have to have a primary care physician though and you don't need referals for
specialists though it doesn't hurt to have one.

If you check through the company health site (company name health dot com)
there's a section to do a doctor search and you can do it by area and
speciality.

We have a main doctor for me and DH and a pediatrician for the kids. We just
found a ped we love and haven't wanted to switch despite the drive to get to
her office!

Jessica

Anne Rogers wrote:
Step one is to figure out your insurance. Unless you have
a traditional indemnity program, your insurance will likely
have a list of in network providers, so that's where you
start. Most insurers will have a website with a list of
in network primary care physicians (and they'll usually list
whether or not they're taking new patients).

From what I've read I got the impression we can use whoever we want, they
don't restrict it to a list, but I'll double check.

There are basically three broad sorts of plans.
A traditional indemnity plan doesn't have a list of
providers. You go to anyone you choose, and insurance
will reimburse (up to whatever their limits are).
A PPO has a list, but you aren't restricted to their
list of in-network physicians. However, if you go
outside the network, the insurance will have more
limitations (will pay less, won't cover some services,
etc.). An HMO only covers the use of in network
physicians and services.
So, if your plan says you can go to anyone,
maybe it's a traditional indemnity plan or maybe it's
a PPO. If it's the latter, it's still usually best
to go in network if you can find someone you want to
use.

Primary care physicians usually have their specialty
listed as internal medicine, family practitioner,
pediatrician (for the kids), or maybe general practitioner.
A family practitioner will see the whole family, though
some will limit their practice to adults and children
over a certain age. Odds are pretty good that you can
find a family practitioner if you want one. Some family
practitioners also do obstetrics, but some will refer
you out to a midwife or OB for care during pregnancy.

what does it mean to be listed as "internal medicine"?

That's sort of loosely like a general practitioner,
for all practical intents and purposes.

I doubt I'll be needing statistics, but from the way it sounds it looks like
I do need to be doing the research now and making contact, the last thing we
need is for one of us to have to go in soon after we get there and end up
making the wrong choice due to lack of time!

It's not the end of the earth. You can always
change. You're not locked into the first one you go to.
Obviously, it's much nicer to deal with someone you like,
but it's not difficult to change.

Best wishes,
Ericka

jess wrote:
From what I've read I got the impression we can use whoever we want, they
don't restrict it to a list, but I'll double check.

There is a list of covered providers, it's a large portion of the doctors in
the area though. You need to make sure it's a doctor in network. You don't
have to have a primary care physician though and you don't need referals for
specialists though it doesn't hurt to have one.


I'm not sure if Anne specified her plan, so if so and you're responding
based on that, ignore me.

But it depends on the plan whether you need referals or not. Some plans
require a referal
from a primary care physician before you can see a specialist the first
time.

I'm not sure if Anne specified her plan, so if so and you're responding
based on that, ignore me.

Though I've not mentioned the company explicitly on here, when I first
mentioned it and said how comprehensive our plan was Jess guessed the
company, as her husband works there.

Thanks Jess for the info, we hadn't found that site yet and thanks cjra for
cautioning us!

Anne