I trust the Admin understands this is not seeking medical advice, per se.
Two-part question:
(A) My daughter is in need of a second opinion. She has a handful of doctors from which to pick, but she wants to make sure they are on the same page with her thinking for treatment. (Her current doctor is way too inflexible when we have it on the highest authority that just isn’t right.) So, she wrote letters to ask what their respective philosophies are and if they give a free consultation. Of course, few responded, and most said they’d have to know more via a (not free) consult. Great, so finding a doctor could cost a fortune! :rolleyes:
(B) The one doctor that did respond and seems in-synch with her thinking on treatment does not take our insurance. There’s a slim chance he might be willing to make arrangements, but how / when should she ask? She feels awkward calling him back to ask (although he did her a cell vs. the general office phone). Or, should she go for one appointment and discuss payment (face to face) to see what he can do for this and future visits? I feel the latter is the way to go…even if she pays 100% out of pocket for the first visit.
What to do? What to do? What a mess! :eek:
Your thoughts?
Word of mouth, same as with many other things. Are there any friends you can ask? Is there an online bulletin board in your town, where you could ask for recommendations.
As far as insurance, that info may well be posted online as well.
If you care about health, then word of mouth is not the correct path. That tells you how friendly the doctor is, not how scientific, deeply knowledgeable, and safe they are.
In terms of safety, you can look up how many complaints have been filed against a doctor in your state. If you have 10 options, look those 10 up and choose the one(s) with the fewest complaints.
In terms of scientific aptitude and knowledge, I don’t know. If they’ve written papers, then obviously they’re inclined in that direction. But I don’t believe that it’s common for doctors to do that. It’s probably worth googling though.
I do believe that I’ve seen previous threads of this nature say that you can check whether a doctor is maintaining their knowledge.
And one thing that I believe has been proven is that a younger doctor will usually be more up-to-date with new techniques and information. You’d rather have a 30 year old doctor than a 50 year old.
I’d go to the website of the best hospital in your town and check their physician roster. That should tell you their specialty, their interests, their board certifications, where they studied, and what insurance they take. Find a few likely prospects, and then see what a google search tells you about them. There are websites that rate doctors, including some on Yelp and Angie’s list.
I used my health plan’s website to find carried Doctors in my area. From there I looked at recommendations and the little bit of price info available. When I narrowed it down to 3 Doctors, I decided to eliminated those that got their Doctorate overseas. My current Doctor was the one that was left. I’ve actually been very happy with her so far.