Comments on: Choosing a Doctor

By: Dianne H.

Dianne H. — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:28:00 +0000

This sounds stupid, but it ended up working better than any other method might have.

Husband & I both needed new doctors. Where to find one? So I thought “Husband is Swedish, why don’t I start with Swedish Hospital?” Sure enough, their webpage has a ‘physician finder’ and I narrowed it down to two doctors. I called one and it turns out he wasn’t accepting new patients, so I made an appointment with doctor two.

The best choice I’ve ever made in my entire life. We love our doctor, he’s just the best!

I also thought I’d mention, I haven’t been to the Emergency Room since I was 16, I’m 44 now….

By: StLMOtoo

StLMOtoo — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:16:37 +0000

I think hospital internet sites, with lots of info on the docs and staff (pics are nice too) can potentially go a long way. If the site is well set up and easy to navigate and includes a lot of useful information on conditions (not just really general info though) for those who do have complex decisions to make regarding treatment options, this can help a patient feel a little more comfortable in choosing that hospital. It must be easy to navigate and delineate departments and treatments. Of course what/who is covered by their plan makes the first if not a big difference, but the websites can really complement that for those who surf for that type of information.

Mailings and newsletter with general information not near as much because most get thrown away without ever being read, and again, just too general in information if you ask me.

I suppose the ads touting wifi and no wait ED’s will help with those patients who never think about health care until they are in an emergency situation. Although wi=fi is probably tempting to those who know they will or may wind up in the hospital for any length of time (mainly those with chronic conditions who are already educated on potential related emergencies) and who are daily internet users, thus that could be appealing, although again should be on the bottom of the list of why to chose a hospital. At least one might know the doc can google up information quickly if needs to! But for some, they get their support groups online and this can be huge factor in trying to stay positive if in the hospital for a while.

So I would say internet (not rating sites) with bios and lots of information is the way to go for hospitals and docs along with keeping good relationships with docs who will refer back to you and keeping good relationships with your patients for WOM which is priceless. Bad WOM goes a heck of lot further than good WOM does, so keep that in mind. People spout off about their bad experiences much more than they do about good ones. Lots of older folks out there are good on the internet so don’t think it’s only catering to the younger crowd.

C – can’t speak to the no wait ED, but I think I heard an ad here for one, just can’t remember which hospital it was. Last time I was in an ED was about 12 years ago and though I think I got back to a room in ED quickly, it took 4 or more hours to get discharged for a damn hairline nose fracture and they knew I was trying to get upstairs to see my dying father. I got hit in the parking lot while walking in to see him. They made me take an ambulance the 50 ft from the lot to the ED too. That one is near my house and my family has gone there for years. I have yet to be an inpatient or ED patient at the hospital that all my docs have privileges at in the City, and will go there if it has anything to do with the chronic condition. Although I had surgery at the City hospital as a young kid, and this probably helped when I was trying to find specialists later in life.

By: c

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:30:39 +0000

Thanks for the post, WhiteCoat, and also to those who provided such useful comments. Now can we please stop the incessant, largely irrelevant hospital advertising? If/when I need a hospital, it certainly won’t be because “the whole hospital is a WiFi hot spot” (as touted by the county’s leading hospital), or because it has “a no-wait ED” (as my town’s newsletter gushes). My friends and family avoid the latter and have advised me to do same – no positive WOM. (OT: Could anyone comment on ‘no-wait’ EDs, favorably or not?)

By: StLMOtoo

StLMOtoo — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:39:59 +0000

Thanks for the tip Sea Spray – will check it out. Hard to get that info on private docs who either don’t have sites or don’t post that type of information. Suppose that’s one reason I gravitated to the academic docs as you can see their research insterests or other activities. It doesn’t tell bedside manner, and although that shouldn’t be a huge factor, it sometimes can be, especially if you need to get along with a doc to work on managing long-term issues.

Hi,Kmostl! Yes, from the Gateway! Not born here, though grew up here – therefore, I pronounce it WITHOUT the “s” of course! What high school did you go to? :>) Happy Holidays to All!

By: SeaSpray

SeaSpray — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:03:19 +0000

Merry Christmas WhiteCoat

By: kmostl

kmostl — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 02:57:10 +0000

stlmotoo you from the gateway to the west?..quick how do you pronounce gravois with or without the s?

By: SeaSpray

SeaSpray — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:11:10 +0000

StLMOtoo – you can go to vimo.com and find some things about docs. Education, years practicing..very general but it is something. Also patient evaluations of docs. I wrote a nice one for my docs… and someone wrote something nice about him after me. Of course it is subjective and you never know who is really writing them..good or bad, I suppose.

I also would not pay for more info.

WOM is still best.

By: Country Doc

Country Doc — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:03:30 +0000

I’m always amazed at this time of year when specialists that most of the year won’t give us primary care docs the time of day remember that we are the source of their business and flood of our offices with holiday treats.

By: StLMOtoo

StLMOtoo — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:01:18 +0000

In college I just used the school doc and then went with recommendations from mom and dad when I needed an internist and a gyn. Gyn was good then but I don’t think so much of her now after 25 years, internist not so good after all. Then long period where I didn’t need a doc. When I finally did need one, I went to one based on the recommendation of a co-worker. That doc might have been fine for general things but I wound up developing a chronic condition and he wasn’t aggressive enough with treatment for my escalating condition even though he’d specialized in that. His staff was rude, and he dictated his notes in the middle of me trying to give history which was irritating. So I wound up firing him. I started looking for a new specialist, first by going to the plan and then choosing to go with one in academia. She is great, and I’ve taken several referrals from her for PCP’s. Then referrals from those PCP’s for other specialists. The PCP’s she chose were pretty good, the one I chose on my own based on plan and sooner time to be seen wound up farming out much of my problems to other specialists and I found out that was just a money making scheme amongst friends and not so much on who was really good for me. I’ve also taken referrals from my two best specialists when I needed to find specialists for family members or friends. On the whole, I’ve preferred the academic docs, though I know there are good private ones out there too – just harder to find. I’ve never looked at any of the rating sites, because I don’t want to pay for it, and as someone above said, they can’t always steer you towards what you need to know. I do google up referrals and do google to find bios when I’m making considerations and the bios can go a long way too.

By: NPs Save Lives

NPs Save Lives — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:42:07 +0000

I often give my patients a range of choices to choose from. I also tell them which have the best bedside manner but I also remind them that it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the quality of care. Most of my patients are from word of mouth. That’s the best advertising one can get.