Page 7 - May 2018 HLN

Your guide to local health and wellness resources in the Lake Nona community.
Your guide to local health and wellness resources in the Lake Nona community.
7 FOR FINDING coverage? Will the of ce take

Do you accept my insurance
TIPS A DOCTOR
credit cards?

At which hospitals additional fees for
do you treat other services? How
Are there any
patients? What are the can I get an
How long does it
are co-payments
How quickly
handled?
usually take to get a
routine appointment?
appointment
if I have an
At what point of ce hours? emergency? What
can I cancel an What is your about nights or
appointment philosophy of Will a doctor, nurse, or visits?
care? Are you
and not be
weekends? Home
charged a fee? treatment-oriented physician’s assistant
or prevention-
give advice over
oriented? they answer e-mail
the telephone? Will
concerning health
questions?

Finding a new doctor can be stressful—especially if you’re managing you increase your chance of nding the former by choosing one who is
a chronic condition or if your decision has to be made quickly, for board certi ed. Other credentials to look for are where the doctor went
example if your physician retires suddenly or you unexpectedly have to school and completed training. This can be found by either calling the
to move to a new area. Here are some tips to making looking for a new doctor’s of ce or doing an internet search.
doctor easier.
1. EMPLOYER/INSURANCE WEBSITE 5. COMMUNITY GUIDES
Often, people go to their insurance company website or provider book, Peruse local community magazines and guides. Community magazines
search for a doctor, and see a list of names in their area with contact have the ability to reach local residents on a more personal and engaged
information (and perhaps a brief biographical sketch). this narrows your level, with the ability to target readers by neighborhood. They generally
choices down, but now what? If insurance is not a limitation, the list of have listings of local businesses and services in the area.
doctors to choose from will be even longer.
6. THE WORLD WIDE WEB
2. WORD OF MOUTH
There is an old saying that word of mouth is the best form of advertising. An internet search is another good way to research a new doctor as you
This is one of the best ways to nd a new doctor, provided you are may discover news articles that a doctor was interviewed for, which may
getting the information from a source you know and trust. While friends give you more con dence in the doctor’s expertise. Be careful, however,
and family can be good sources to ask about which doctors they use of doctor review websites because they tend to be skewed towards
and like, it is also a very good idea to ask a friend (or friend of a friend) people who had a negative experience versus a positive experience and
who works in a local hospital or health care setting. thus may not tell the entire story. Be sure to check the website for your
3. A TRUSTED HEALTHCARE PROVIDER state’s licensing board as this can tell you if there are any disciplinary
First, healthcare providers know who provides good healthcare in their complaints pending against the doctor.
area. They know this because they read the reports of doctors they refer
patients to, hear patient feedback on their experiences with the doctor, 7. INTERVIEW POTENTIAL DOCTORS
and may work in the same setting which allows them to have inside One other idea some people have is to “interview” your potential doctor.
knowledge as to whether there are any problems with the doctor that Basically, this involves asking the doctor some important questions
may not be more commonly known to others. during an initial consultation such as how are emergencies handled,
4. CHECK OUT DOCTOR’S CREDENTIALS what are the after-hours policies, how can you get a prescription re ll,
Another thing to do is look at the doctor’s credentials. First, check if do you actually see the doctor or a nurse practitioner, etc. Based on
the doctor is board certi ed since this gives you the highest probability the answers to these types of questions and the personal feel you get
that you will be provided competent specialized services. The best based on interacting with the doctor, you can get a sense if the doctor
place to check is the website for the American Board of Medical is the right t for you. While good rapport with the doctor is important,
Specialists (ABMS) which contains board certi cation status in 24 also consider how the of ce staff treats the patients. Are they friendly
specialty areas. For psychology, see the American Board of Professional
Psychology(ABPP), which contains board certi cation status in 14 and courteous or do they seem to be rude and cut people short? If you
different areas of psychology. Please note that there are good doctors are comfortable with the answers to your questions, you may be ready
who are not board certi ed and bad doctors who are board certi ed but to schedule your rst appointment!

Discover more resources at www.healthylakenona.com 5
Discover more resources at www.healthylakenona.com 7