Finding the Best Doctor, Surgeon or Dentist For You
Doctor, Dentist or Surgeon?????
How do you find a good doctor or dentist? If you’re like most you usually ask a friend or get some type of referral. This has been a tried and true method for finding what you need. Why does this method usually work? Because the referral comes from someone who has been going to a particular doctor or dentist and thinks they have been doing a great job. You probably ask around even more and get a second opinion, and then if the opinions support each other, you make an appointment and go see for yourself. The reason this method works is because the referral usually comes from someone you trust and if more than one person recommends a particular doctor, then more than likely it’s enough to make you believe the reputation is solid.
I’m sure that most of you already have a family doctor and dentist, but what if you are new to an area and need to find one? What if you need a surgeon or a specialist? What if your friends give the answer “I’m not sure, I’ve never had surgery”. Or what if you don’t know anyone to ask? Where do you go to find that solid reputation? One of the reasons for this article is that I recently had surgery on my elbow. I had an accident while I was wakeboarding and ended up tearing my triceps tendon. Needless to say, I needed a surgeon. Since this is not something I need on a daily basis I had no idea where to begin. So I followed the traditional route and asked around. Eventually I did find an excellent surgeon and was able to schedule an appointment and I am happy to say I had a successful surgery. Sometime afterward I came across a website that would have given me a very good starting point. So I decided to do a tutorial on it and share the information with you. Whether you are looking for a new family doctor, dentist, or you need to find a specialist, this online tool will help you get started. If you are not looking to change doctors, you can still use this tool to look your current doctor up and see how he/she compares. I actually did this and found that the surgeon I went to had a very good rating. The ratings are partially based on surveys taken by actual patients and the final rating is a 1 out of 5 stars system. So, are you ready to take a peek?
Searching For Health Care
Step #1
The first step is to go to the website. You can click the following link or you can type the URL into your web browser. You should see the home page.
When you get here, you’ll notice there is tons of information that you can find. But for this tutorial I am only going to concentrate on the search function and directory. Notice at the top that there is a search bar. It prompts you to enter a doctor’s name or a specialty that you are searching for. There is also a location selector where you can enter you current city. Right beneath this search bar is a menu bar where you can select Physician, Dentist or Hospital. There are also three green buttons that are all clearly labeled to help you find what you need. So as you can see there are several ways to find what you are looking for and I think this is a big plus. I found the site to be very user friendly.
Step #2
So to begin, lets use my surgery as an example. I’m done with the actual surgery and now I’m looking for a good physical therapist. Or my surgeon has recommended one and I want to check and see what others have had to say about him/her. So I click on the green “Find a Doctor” button and when the new screen opens I enter in “Physical Therapy” in the text box asking for a specialty and then I enter my zip code so the search will find only the physical therapists in my area. Notice that there is a blue drop down arrow in the corner of the “specialty” box. If you click this it will open up a vast directory of specialties that you can select from.
After those two boxes have been filled in, click the big blue “Find Doctors” button.
Step #3
You should see the results page pop up in just a few seconds.
Notice to the right of each doctor listed there is a star rating and a count of how many surveys have been filled out concerning that particular doctor. There is also an option for you to take a survey. Underneath each doctor there is a checkbox to put this doctor in a side by side comparison of other doctors. This is a great option especially if you’ve been referred to two different doctors and want to compare them.
Step #4
If you click on the doctors name it will take you their profile which is chock full of information.
As you can see at first glance, the profile provided is very informative. There is contact information, license info, appointment info, how long it’s been since they graduated, etc. One of the greatest pieces of info in my opinion is the list of insurance that is accepted by this doctors office. Take special note at the top of the profile. There are numerous tabs that provide additional information. Surveys that have been taken, awards and recognition they have received, their education and one tab that I think is very important…background check. When you click on this tab you’ll be able to see any malpractice history, sanctions or hospital history. This is a lot of great information. It’s not just your run of the mill directory with some stars next to a name.
This tool is not just for searching for doctors. You can review dentists, pediatricians and hospitals as well. Plus, like I said earlier, it’s also for specialties. In this day and age, finding a good physician is like finding a gold mine., especially if you have children. This is also a great resource if you are planning to have surgery. Not only can you review potential surgeons but also the hospital where you’ll be having your surgery. There is loads of information here, too much for a simple tutorial or article. I recommend that you visit and see for yourself. You’ll probably spend at least 30 minutes looking around and I’m sure that you’ll find it to be a very useful online tool that you’ll want to bookmark. This is a great site!!
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