Health Care: How do you choose a physican & hospital?

[T.A.Stobie_SFO]

How do you choose a doctor or hospital? What are your sources of information? How should public policy promote quality health care providers?

This is one of the discussion questions that Obama/Biden team would like addressed per the discussion ( forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=294423 ) on improving health care.

 

[T.A.Stobie_SFO]

I research doctors and hospitals carefully, looking for doctors and hospitals that share my respect for life. If a doctor is not pro-life, I do not want him as a doctor.

Likewise, hospitals should have the highest respect for life and not put finance at the top of the priorities.

Doctors and hospitals that promote abortion or contraception I consider as not valid as medical professionals or institutions are avoid them, consider them already guilty of malpractice.

 

[twk001]

I’m a nurse, so i’m fortunate to know about the practices and reputations of just about every physician in the county. When I need a speciallist, I ask for them by name. I think that one of the most valuable resources the public has are the nurses and healthcare workers that they know. I am always honest with my friends and family when they ask me about a specific doc. As far as hosptials, we have only two locally. I tend to lean towards one of them specifically because I worked there for years and trust the OR staff and floor staff. You may find (as is the case here) that most physicians have privelages at one specific hospital that they practice at, so if you want a specific hospital, your choice of physician may be narrowed or determined by that. twk

 

[gron0083]

I too am an RN with a master’s and married to a physician and I choose by personal knowledge of different physicians and hospitals. The bottom line is that “insiders” know who is the best surgeon, specialist, etc.
I also used to work in healthcare quality improvement (pre-baby ) and can also say there are actually a lot of resources available to the public about healthcare quality in general. There are standards of care that you can read yourself and see if your MD is adhering to them. Usually these resources are found on state health department websites. For example, I chose the hospital I would give birth at based on their high VBAC rate and low cessarian rate. I found this information on the state health dept website. They are usually buried but they are there.
Also, there are lots of guidelines/protocols/algorhythms (MDs sometimes don’t like them because every patient is different but they really do allow for quality care in the uncomplicated patient) that you can find on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s website or on the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement website. Another place that’s great to go is the NICE website, which is the UK’s organization that determines what the National Health Service will pay for. It incorporates quality/outcomes with cost of treatment.
Good luck, sorry this is long hope some was helpful.

 

[PaulinVA]

I think the biggest problem in picking physicians and hospitals is interpreting the data that is collected and available.

Our largest area hospital has the highest cardiac mortality rate in the area, but that’s where I would go for a heart problem. Why? They handle the toughest cases, so their mortality rate IS higher, but they are also the place most docs would go.

So, what really DOES make a good hospital? Good outcomes? Low staph infection rates? High incidence of privelege revocation? Without knowing the population, you can’t put that into perspective.

Trying to interject consumerism into something consumers have no control over and no insight into is a frustrating experience, to say the least.

 

[crohnie4life]

I know a few RNs who work at the hospital I frequent due to my health problems. I ask them about the doctor’s reputation, bedside manner, how well he assists patients with their problems, etc.

I also ask my primary care who he’d pick for his family and then talk to the RNs who work in the office. I don’t take this lightly as it is my health and that of my family’s at stake.

I am in the process of firing my surgeon due to his poor bedside manner several times (2 of which I thought I’d give him 1 more chance thinking maybe he had a bad day. not the case) and the fact that his secretary is always rude to me no matter how pleasant I am to her.

As for the hospital, I’ve been going to the same one since I was 12 and have been very happy w/the care from the staff. I was at a few other hospitals through no choice of my own and have come to realize that if some healthcare workers don’t like their job, it shows in how they care for patients.