How to Choose a Primary Care Doctor

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How to Choose a Primary Care Doctor by Zangwill, MD, MPH

Maybe you’ve moved or changed jobs. Maybe you’re picking a doctor for the

first time or your long-standing doctor has recently retired. Whatever your

situation, choosing a doctor can be a complicated decision. How do you know

which one is good? What questions should you ask? Where do you start?

With so many physicians out there, the decision may feel daunting, but experts

say the best place to start is not by examining the doctors, but by examining

yourself.

“The main thing [in choosing a personal physician] is to make yourself the

center of focus,” says Inlander, President of the People’s Medical

Society, the largest medical consumer advocacy organization in the United

States. “You really have to first assess what your needs are, what your

preferences are, and the way you live,” he says. As you begin your search, it’s

helpful to make a priority list of what you need, want, and expect; then you

will find the best doctor for you.

The Major Issues In choosing a doctor, there are two major issues to

assess, says Inlander. He calls them the “amenities” issues and the “medical”

issues. Both are important and require your consideration. The “amenities”

issues are the nuts and bolts questions that cover how you will access your

health care. These include, “Is the doctor’s office close by? Do the office

hours suit your schedule? Are you comfortable with how fast you can get

appointments?” These are basics, says Inlander, but they are the things that

become the most irritating when they don’t fit your expectations.

The “medical” issues, Inlander says, include looking at the doctor’s training,

specialty, and which hospitals he or she is affiliated with. All doctors have

different training backgrounds. Even primary care doctors can differ—some are

internists who study and treat only adults, while some are family practitioners

who focus on both adults and kids. It’s important to evaluate if you will feel

more comfortable with one type more than another. Further, if you have a certain

medical condition and need to see a specialist you’ll want to know how much

experience the doctor has in treating patients with that condition.

“There are no standards about how doctors practice,” says Stanley Borg, DO,

Vice-President of Clinical Operations at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois,

“and there are no standards about what people expect.” You’ll need to decide if

you are looking for a certain specialty, training in a certain area, or

affiliation with a certain hospital.

What About Recommendations? A good place to start collecting names of

potential physicians is through recommendations from friends. But keep in mind,

reminds Dr. Borg, that you need to find out why your cousin or neighbor

recommends their doctor so highly. “Quality, especially when it comes to health

care, lies in the eyes of the beholder,” Dr. Borg says. It may turn out that

your cousin likes her doctor because of the educational materials he gives her,

while you are actually more interested in whether the doctor is receptive to

acupuncture referrals.

Once you’ve got your priority list and the names of potential doctors through

recommendations or your insurance carrier’s handbook, Inlander advocates setting

up an interview appointment with each potential physician. This is the time when

you can ask specifically about the doctor’s views and experience and find out if

you can work together. Remember, says Inlander, what you’re striving for is a

partnership with your doctor.

What About Background Checks? While most large insurance plans routinely

check a physician’s board certification and licensure before hiring him or her,

you can also usually get this information through each state’s medical board.

Some state medical boards also publish whether a doctor has had any disciplinary

actions or malpractice claims against him or her. There is a national listing of

all doctors who have had disciplinary actions levied against them. This is not

open to the public, but can be obtained through resources of the Public

Citizen’s Health Research Group, a consumer organization that publishes reports

on doctors who have been disciplined by state and federal agencies.

The Bottom Line No one but you can decide what is the most important thing

to look for in a doctor. “It’s really about expectations,” says Dr. Borg. If you

know what you’re looking for then you can find a physician who will meet your

needs. That’s the best way to get a good match.

RESOURCES:

People’s Medical Society

http://www.peoplesmed.org

Public Citizen’s Health Research Group

http://www.citizen.org/hrg

Saying thank you is more than good manners.

It is good spirituality.

-Alfred Painter