How to Find Top Doctors and Hospitals

Finding the Best Medical Care in Your Area

Nothing is more important than your family’s health. A busy lifestyle makes it easy to push medical appointments to the bottom of the to-do list, but regular medical check-ups are essential to maintaining your health.

Equally important is finding a doctor and medical center that will treat your family with the priority and attention you deserve. Medical professionals see dozens of patients a day. If your current medical provider is not a good match for your family, the tips below can help you find another doctor.

Online Review Sites

Online review sites are an excellent way to evaluate doctors. Among the more than 40 online review sites of doctors, the most popular include:

Many people rely on a single recommendation when choosing a medical professional. The websites listed above hope to change that. According to the Wall Street Journal, 25 percent of adults consulted online physician websites before calling a doctor. Moreover, all three websites listed above saw a significant increase in the number of reviews during the last year and more people are reading reviews about their potential doctors before calling them.

Much like popular lawyer rating websites, doctors cannot change these reviews. The reviews are submitted by users and not changed or edited, so you can be sure that the comments from former patients are not falsified. However, you cannot be certain that the person was a patient in the first place.

U.S. News and World Report’s website features a search function that allows users to search for medical professionals and hospitals based on high ratings:

Choosing a Medical Professional

Online reviews should only be part of the criteria that makes up your decision to choose a doctor. To determine the best fit for the medical needs of your family, ask the following questions before selecting a new doctor:

Does he or she have an area of specialty?
Can you easily travel to their main office from home, work, or school?
What is the quality of his or her referrals?
Is the office clean, organized and well-staffed?
How long ago did he or she graduate from medical school?
Is the doctor board certified in his or her area of specialty?
Is the office administrative staff friendly?
Does the facility accept your insurance?
Does the doctor perform house calls?
Does the doctor perform surgery?
Does the medical professional have children of his or her own?
Who is the substitute medical professional when the primary care physician is not available?
What hospitals are the doctors affiliated with?

The process of finding a new healthcare provider should not be stressful, but you should not take it lightly either. You don’t want to have any regrets when it comes to the health of your family, so do your homework and choose the physician that best fits your specific needs.