How do you choose a doctor when you move?

Ask your neighbors, friends, co workers, grocery store clerk… eventually, one or two names will keep popping up.—That’s how I found my plastic surgeon when I had my mommy makeover 7 years ago.)

Visit a walk in clinic or hospital and ask for a recommendation/referral. Keep asking until you hear the same name 2 or 3 times.

Half the time I pick from the phone book. Also neighbors. I have stopped relying on doctor to doctor referrals, I have very little confidence in that now. Check out this Q on referrals.

Depending on where you’ve moved to.. you might be able to find a list of “Best of Doctors” that is reputable. Try doing a “Best of <your city name here>” search in Google.
For example, we have a publication in my city that is very good and each year they do an extensive survey of “best of” the Twin Cities.
They do best restaurants, hair salons, doctors, lawyers.. you get the idea. It’s compiled for actual surveys (consumers)—and so far I’ve found it to be a very good resource.
I can search the “Best of” list for Cardiologists and then see which ones are accepting new patients (and if they accept my insurance).

If you have insurance, most will have a list of physicians with a patient / client rating system.

Sometimes it is a matter of if they are taking new patients at the time. Sometimes it’s slim pickins, depending where you are.

I would ask people I know (if I know anyone) or just go to the local docs and try them out. I travel to my doctor though because she was recommended and is so good. Bit of a bugger if you need a med cert and you feel like crap. I have to go to the city.

I used a Health Advocate to provide me with the name of a highly rated _____ in my area.

I choose from the list provided by our insurance company.

Where are you living?

You might call the local Health Reporter at your newspaper. They get to know who are the top doctors in the area.

@SamIAm In the US.

Make friends. Learn to trust them. Ask for recommendations.

@mattbrowne Unfortunately, making friends and learning to trust takes a bit longer than I am willing to wait when I’m having trouble with my heart. If I had a few months to spare, that would work great.

@Everyone Thank you all for your suggestions. There are only two cardiologists accepted by my insurance, and they have the same office, so that didn’t end up being much of a choice. Since their office doesn’t accept new patients without a referral (Does anybody know why that would be? It seems like a filthy trick to get more money into the industry), I had to get an appointment with a gp. I chose the only office that was both covered by my insurance and within biking distance, so that didn’t end up being too difficult, either.

@bobbinhood Possibly they don’t want to deal with 25 year olds who book an appointment on their own because they know they have slightly high cholesterol.

The requirement for referral maybe an insurance requirement for the reason @JLeslie gives. Some specialists will expect full payment, by patient, at time of appointment or insurance payment and the insurance company WILL NOT pay for imaginary issues.

@bobbinhood Can you get your current specialist or GP to give a referral to the NEW cardiologist? You must a patient history that the new doctor would want to see.

Also, in some cardiology groups there are some doctors who specialize in electrical and someon the pumbing. Do not trust your referring doctor to get you to the right one, ask a couple questions to the cardiology group directly once you get the referral. But, honestly, most likely, they will just say, “all our doctors do everything.”

@Tropical_Willie The insurance thing is kind of ironic, because I checked with them and they said that no referral was required, but once I found the doctors they cover, I needed a referral anyway. As for your question, I’m not sure if I could get my former GP to give me a referral since I’m in another state now. I’m not sure how that works. If she could give me one, I’m sure she would since she was concerned that I get more tests done sooner rather than later. I do have an appointment scheduled for a week from Monday with a GP here, so I should be ok.

@JLeslie “But, honestly, most likely, they will just say, ‘all our doctors do everything.’” Yep. People that work in the offices can get in big trouble if they recommend one doctor over another. It’s unfortunate, really.

@bobbinhood I think she can give you a referral. My FL doctor gave me a referral to a TN doctor.

As to getting to the best doctor in the particular office. Our medical system sucks.

If you know anyonee who wortks in a hospital, they will usually know who’s good and who’s not

@bobbinhood – I agree. When it’s very urgent you need a different strategy. Referrals might work.