How To Select Your Healthcare Provider

On a day to day basis our team of healthcare providers will be our Primary Care Physician (pcp) and for ladies we will also see our gynecologist on a yearly basis.

Today we will discuss why it is important to:

1. 1. Setup a team
2. 2. The various types of providers
3. 3. How to choose a Primary Care Provider (pcp)

First of all, why is it important to setup a team to begin with?

You will want to have a primary care physician before you are sick.

You will want to have a primary care physician before you are sick.

It can be a hassle to go to a specialist and if you fail to select a pcp in advance and establish a relationship, then your options will be limited when it is time to see a doctor.

You will simply need to see who is available. This is less than optimal if you want to make sure that you receive the care and treatment that you want and need.

For example, you may need a yearly prescription or advice after you have sustained a sprain or minor injury. In the case of prescription usage, it is helpful to have follow up treatments every few months to see how you are responding to the treatment and if the dosage needs to be adjusted.

For example:

My Grandmother has been on warfarin for years to treat her heart. On a weekly basis she has to visit her pcp and have lab work to see if her blood is too thin or too thick. 

Her prescription is adjusted accordingly. Also there are certain foods she cannot eat such as green leafy vegetables because they will cause her blood to become too thick.

She is able to feel confident in her pcps’ recommendations because of the regular treatment she receives from them.

You will also feel more confident in the treatment you receive when you have taken the time to select a pcp and established a relationship with them.

Many people are frustrated because they receive uncoordinated healthcare. This is where a partnership with our pcp comes in. During a time of need or when you have ongoing treatment for a chronic condition, the office of your pcp can help facilitate and coordinate your treatment by contacting other facilities and labs that they partner with.

There are various types of providers to select from:

– Family Medicine Physician

– Internist

– General Practitioner

– Gynecologists

– Nurse Practitioners

This also includes Physician Assistants

– If under 21 then Pediatricians

By now you may be thinking those are a lot of options. How do I select just one and where do I find these providers?

How to Choose a PCP

When asked how someone likes their doctor or nurse practitioner, many people respond:

Mine is nice enough but always in a rush.

He’s awkward, but supposed to be very good.

I think I would rather see a woman, should I see a woman?

There’s a doctor that I want to see but they are booked for the next 4 months.

Everytime I go for a visit, a different person sees me.

Finding the right doctor is just as important as choosing the college that you attend, the line of work that you commit to and so forth.

For most people, the days of a family doctor who knows our birthmarks and family history by heart is long gone.

Many people vacillate between apathy and urgency when it comes to our health. 

We want you to have more control of your health and the care you receive.

Most people simply bounce from provider to provider:

From the pediatrician to the college health center to a random walk in clinic and so forth.

You can do an online search for ‘pcp near me’ or ‘in my area’.

You can also go to specific directories that list pcps:

Zocdoc

Healthgrades

There are two examples, on those sites you can read reviews.

But, there are doctors that always slip under the radar and don’t show up in directories and may not be referred by those you know.

These doctors acquire patients by word of mouth because their patients are so proud of the work that they do.

You can ask for recommendations from friends, family, your therapist and dentist, to name a few.

But how do you narrow down the selections to decide exactly who to see?

After you have a lists of potential primary care providers:

You will want to make sure that your insurance covers the pcp that you choose. This way office visits, labs, xrays and so forth will be covered. I will go into more details about these in future episodes.

You should call the office to see if they are in network with your insurance.

You can search the insurance directory, but those can be out of date. Also a nurse practitioner or physicians assistant that you want to see might not be listed under the doctors listing in the directory. For these reasons, it can be helpful to call.

When speaking with the provider, ask if they offer meet and greets?

If so,

Schedule a visit, see if you feel comfortable in the office and if you like talking to the doctor.

Finally, what should you look for when you are in the office?

It is important that the pcp validates your concerns. If they suggest that your symptoms are imaginary, or made up then this is a red flag to look for someone else.

As a note,

Women are more likely than men to be told that what they are experiencing is imaginary.

If the pcp is dismissive, seems aloof, talks over your head or feels condescending then these are other red flags.

Simply picking a doctor who looks like you is not always a rule of thumb for optimal care.

The right pcp will vary from one person to the next, but there are some traits to look for when on the hunt for exceptional care:

They should be willing to explain their thinking to you and even better, they proactively offer their thoughts.

Curiosity this shows that they are present, it demonstrates the absence of ego, which can hinder decision making and proper care. It also demonstrates that they are open to new ideas.

If something is outside of their scope of knowledge, they should be willing to admit this. By doing so, it admits humility and a true desire to help get you on a path towards health.

The pcp should be willing to listen.

They should be convient for you. This can look different for different people. It may mean they are in network and take your insurance. It may mean they are connected to a certain hospital or they are located within a certain distance from your home.

Also, if you introduce a topic and the provider ignores it, or quickly changes the subject or remains silent, then they probably have an opinion that is different from your own.

On one hand, silence can mean that they are making time for others to talk, but it does not demonstrate that they actually cared about your statements, heard your voice or even cared what you said.

Only dialogue can demonstrate this.

With that in mind, you should be able to understand your pcp. They don’t necessarily need to be someone who you feel comfortable going to a movie with, but you should be able to understand them and you should feel a decent level of ease and comfort in the office.

This is still the case even if you are an introvert like myself.

Questions to Ask the PCP

When you visit the office for the meet and greet, 

Ask how accessible the pcp is?

Here are more questions to ask:

If I needed to reach you in a health emergency, how would I go about doing that?

How much time on average are you able to spend face to face with a patient?

If I am admitted to a hospital where you have privileges, would you help coordinate my care?

What’s the process if I need a prescription, or have a question and don’t necessarily need to come in?

Today we discussed why it is important to setup a team, the various types of providers and how to choose a pcp.

We listed questions to ask, how to search for and narrow down the wide range of options available, provided red flags to look out for and listed positive traits to seek from your pcp.

You want a pcp who you understand, they have a style and pace that is comfortable to you.

Do you want a pcp who keeps up with scientific literature or do you prefer a provider who is charming and has decades of experience or do you prefer a recently graduated provider who has fresh ideas?

There are so many options to choose from.

Now that we have discussed how to select your primary care provider, in the next article I will discuss what to do once you have a pcp and how to partner with them for optimal care.