Ask yourself the following questions.
Access
- Is the doctor a contracting provider in the Health Options Medicare Advantage network?
- Is the doctor accepting new patients?
- Can the doctor treat patients at the network hospital of my choice?
Experience
- Does the doctor have experience treating patients with my health conditions?
- Is the doctor highly rated by people or groups I respect?
Location
- Is the doctor’s office easy to get to?
List doctors who meet some
or all of the qualifications in
Step 1. We’ve made it easy
for you. Just go to our website
at www.bcbsfl.com and
click on Provider Directory.
You can search for doctors
by location, by specialty, by
name or by network, among
other things, and get basic
information about them and
their practice. You also may
wish to:
- Ask a doctor or someone else who works in health care (such as a nurse).
- Ask family members, friends and neighbors.
- Call your hospital’s doctor referral service—which will give you only the names of doctors who work at that hospital.
- Call your local medical society.
- Visit the American Medical Association website at www.ama-assn.org (select Doctor Finder) for a list of area doctors.
Ask the doctor, a nurse or
office manager about the
factors important to you.
In addition to those listed
in Step 1, you may want to
ask about:
- Office hours
- Who covers for the doctor when he or she is off duty
- How long it takes to get an appointment for a routine visit or for urgently needed care
- How long typical office waits are
- Whether the doctor’s office sends reminders about tests you should have
- Whether the doctor (or someone in the doctor’s office) gives advice over the phone for common medical problems
During this first visit, you will
learn if it is easy to talk with
the doctor and if he or she
is the right one for you.
www.doh.state.fl.us
Click on Practitoner Profiling
